The Lunar Child
by Storm Notorious
Summary: Sixteen year-old Quinn finds out he's a demigod. Naturally, things go wrong from there.
1. The French Ness Monster

Quinn didn't expect to be sharpening his knives in the back of a minivan, while a middle-aged mortal told embarrassing stories about the demigod savior of Zeus' lightning bolt. But hey, not like he had any other plans. And not like he had much of a choice.

He looked over at the others. Everyone seemed too nervous to talk, except for Percy's mom (What was her name? Susan? Something like that.), who seemed to get even more talkative when she was nervous. They were on the third story now, when Percy tried to bring his favorite blankie into the bathtub. Speaking of the demigod...

Quinn had only known Percy for two months. He heard all the stories, everyone had. The forbidden son of Poseidon, traveled to the Underworld and back, sailed the Sea of Monsters and found the Golden Fleece, all with the help of Annabeth Chase.

Who was sitting opposite him, only half-listening to the embarrassing stories. One hand gripped her cap tightly, while the other was nervously tapping her knee. Didn't look like much, but he knew that if he was half as smart as her, he'd be a genius.

He saw her sneak a look to Percy, who looked like he waned to jump out of the car off the cliffs (he had plenty of experience, from what Quinn heard), but one sympathetic look from her made him smile like the sun.

They were friends, definitely. But what else? Perhaps, given a bit more time, maybe in the future...

Coincidentally, that led him to the spikey-haired punk girl sitting beside him, the one and only child of Zeus, Thalia Grace. Earbuds in, staring idly ahead while listening to music that would make Hades blush.

Annnd she saw him. Eyebrow raised, she popped out an earbud. "Something up, Harley?"

One of her endearing nicknames for him. Quinn, Harley. When he got to camp all he had was a comic book, and the name just stuck.

"No, it's just...its just..." Somehow, he always seemed to fall silent when he talked to her. Fortunately, his vague gesturing seemed to take it into a whole different line of thought.

Thalia looked over at Percy and his mom. "Oh." She sidled up to him, closing the little distance they had in the cramped compartment, lowering her voice. "Quinn, family isn't all that it's cracked up to be. I mean, you know what it's been like for me."

Totally wrong thing, but, he wasn't one to look a gift pegasus in the mouth. "Hey, at last you had a parent. I don't even know how my mom met him."

She sighed. "Quinn, this is not a contest to see who had the worst upbringing."

"But if it was, I'd win."

Thalia smacked him, giving him a static shock. Another one of her charming traits.

"Ow! Alright Storm, lay it off." Quinn looked up smiling, only o realize that everyone sees in the car was entirely silent. Percy's mom had even stopped blabbering on about adorable baby stories.

Thankfully, his mother or whatever god looked over awkward silences saw fit to deliver them right at the door of Westover Hall at that moment.

"Oh thank Zeus." He was out of there in record time.

Quinn shivered. He hated the cold, always had. Whenever the fog rolled around back home, the only place anyone would find him was in the library's comic book section, curled up right next to the heater.

Annabeth and Thalia were unpacking the rest of the luggage, while Percy was speaking to his mom.

"Come on Mom, I'll be fine. Got everything I need." The demigod was bouncing with energy, read to get inside. Thalia told him that Percy was friends with Grover, the satyr that they were meeting up with. Worried for his friend.

He walked over, clapping a hand on Percy's shoulder. "Don't worry Ms. Jackson, I'll make sure your son gets back to you without a scratch."

Percy's face turned as red as a tomato, but she just laughed.

"Very well. And please, call me Sally. Percy, you better listen to this young man. He knows what he's doing. Have fun!"

"Mom, I-" But it was too late, and the cramped sea blue minivan that Quinn sincerely hoped he'd never see again drove off into the night.

Quinn chuckled, turning towards the Hall. "Well come on, Golden Boy. You need to carry all my stuff."

"Not a chance."

Thalia tried to hide her laughter, but failed miserably. "You know Percy, your mom's not that bad."

"Yeah, I guess so. You ever call your mom after the whole pine tree thing?"

And there it goes. Quinn never really understood why people always described a mood as 'stormy', until he met her. The daughter of Zeus literally looked like she was about to shoot lightning bolts out of her eyes. For all he knew, she actually could.

"If I thought that was any of your business-"

Quinn put a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Storm. Save the thunder and lightning for whatever monster George called us about."

"It's Grover," Thalia corrected.

"Right, Gregory. Like I said."

It took a second, but eventually she had a small smile on her face. "Alright. Let's just get inside. I'm freezing to death here."

"Said the girl wearing a leather jacket."

As they hiked up the steps to the hall, Quinn took a quick look behind them. Annabeth and Percy were a little behind.

He turned back towards Thalia. "You were a bit harsh towards Percy."

"Was I?"

Quinn stopped, grabbing her shoulder. "Look, he was just trying to be friendly. The whole 'tough punk girl who turned into a tree for a few years' routine tends to make people uncomfortable. It might help you to share a few things.'

"And what part do you suggest? The constant paparazzi? The attention stunts? Jason?" Thalia shrugged off his hand, continuing to walk. "I'd probably end up depressing him."

 _Well, I tried._

When the two love birds catched up with them, he slammed open the doors with both arms. It was important to have a sense of style, most importantly on life-or-death missions.

* * *

"Woah."

Annabeth was right. The hall was absolutely covered in weapons, from eighteenth-century rifles to medieval battleaxes. Even for a military boarding school, Westover Hall was overkill. He even spotted what looked like an actual gatling-style minigun, mounted on the wall underneath a cannon.

He was quite focused on the minigun. So he didn't notice when the doors slammed shut, or when there were the sounds of foot steps from the other side of the entrance hall.

"Halt! What are you three doing here?"

He did however, hear that.

Teachers. And seeing how this was a military boarding school, the sticks up their asses would be made of Celestial Bronze. Which they would probably use to beat him to death for stealing.

While he was trying to get the horribly disturbing images out of his head, the woman with the faintest wisps of a mustache spoke again.

"Well? You are trespassing on the finest boarding school in the state. I suggest you speak quickly." Quinn had a terrifying image of the woman charging with the minigun, three screaming demigods running away from her in terror.

Percy, bless him, was in the middle of stammering out what was sure to be a well-crafted and flawless excuse, before Thalia stepped in. She snapped her fingers, the sound of which echoed strangely in the air.

Quinn's eyebrows shot up into his messy hair. Manipulating the Mist? Impressive. No matter how many times he had asked, Chiron refused to teach him. Probably assumed he was just going to use it for parlor tricks and stealing things. He was right, but still...

"We're not visitors, we're students. I'm Thalia, these are my friends Percy, Annabeth, and Quinn." She pointed to each of them in turn. "We were just stepping out for some fresh air."

It seemed to have worked. The woman shook her head, as if she was trying to remember something. The man was just frowning.

"Yes...you four." She refocused, scowling at them. "I thought I made it quite clear you were to stay inside the gymnasium."

The man turned to his companion. "Mrs Gottschalk, do you know these students?"

"Yes, yes, Dr Thorn. Some of my best, you know."

Gottschalk and Thorn? Well, it was better than Angelopoulos. Seriously, which one of his ancestors came up with that?

He thought Dr Thorn was scowling, but by now Quinn just realized that was just one of his charming qualities, like the heavy French accent he was pretty sure was fake. "Hmm...very well. Get back to the dance immediately, or all four of you will be demoted."

It was at that moment that a boy (he assumed Grover) ran out into the hall. "You guys made it! I-"

And then he noticed the teachers. "Uh, I mean-"

Thalia jumped in. "-Back from outside,"She added quickly. "He means from outside." The satyr nodded so fast it looked like his head would fall off, roll out the door, and make a rather odd gargoyle.

The daughter of Zeus gathered them up, pushing them in the direction Grover came from, snatching Quinn as they passed.

Quinn looked back at the teachers. Mrs Gotlock or whatever was droning on to her military peer about security, but he didn't appear to be listening. Instead, the Doctor had his mismatched eyes focused on them, staring at them with suspicion.

He knew that there were some mortals, who for whatever reason, could see through the Mist. Unsurprisingly, they tended to end up having demigod children.

Dr Thorn seemed confused about Thalia's explanation. But he didn't call them out on it. Maybe Thorn could only see through the Mist little bit? Was that even possible? Note to self, ask Chiron. Also ask him to teach me again.

They stopped before a set of doors, behind which he could hear what sounded like muffled pop music. Made sense, as out of place as it was in Westover. Throw together a couple dozen kids in a uniform they always had to wear, and then throw them in a room together and tell them to go nuts. He'd probably be doing the same as them, but with a better taste in music.

Quinn stood by awkwardly while they all greeted Grover. Apparently he had been the satyr to bring Annabeth, Thalia, and their friend-turned-enemy Luke to camp. Also helped Annabeth and Percy go to the Underworld and live to tell the tale, and found the Golden Fleece. Looked like satyrs really got around.

How nice.

Finally, Grover noticed him. He went through the efforts of putting on a smile, which Quinn thought was a nice touch.

"I'm Grover, a satyr," he said while putting out his hand, "And you must be..."

He took it. Despite his scrawny look, the satyr had a pretty strong grip. Also, he appeared to have horns.

"Quinn Angelopoulos."

"Son of...?"

He shrugged. "No idea. Guess my mother has more important things to do then paying attention to her son.

"Oh." Grover seemed a bit thrown off by the note of bitterness in his voice. "Maybe she'll claim you, after seeing you helping out here?"

Quinn shrugged. He sincerely doubted that, but he recognized Grover was only trying to help. "Yeah, maybe. Anyways, Gregory-"

"It's Grover."

"Yeah, like I said. So, where's the demigods?"

He pointed to the doors. "Through there. A brother and sister. Strong, for their age."

Quinn looked past him, focusing on the steel doors. "Ten and twelve?"

"Um, yes...how did you know that?"

Wait, how did he know that? It was like it had just popped into his head, something he knew as well as his own name. "I...Lucky guess. Anyway what's the problem, why haven't you brought them to camp?"

If Grover was wondering about his ability to sniff out the age of demigods, he didn't show it. "Well...the monster. I keep trying to get close, but he's always there! He doesn't know who it is yet, but he's closing in on them. And today's the last day of term. If we can't get them out today, it's over!"

"Woah, settle down there Goat Boy." Thalia placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "They're at the dance, right? Then we'll dance, blend in. Now what's the monster? Cyclops? Dracanae?"

He calmed down somewhat, but still had that nervous energy in him, like the rest of them.

"Oh, you've already met him. Dr Thorn."

* * *

Quinn had once been on the edge of a cliff with a pack of harpies harrying him, and a hellhound waiting hungrily below. It was one of the worse experience of his life. Still, he would've preferred that again to a military school dance.

Packs of girls roamed the edges of the hall, seizing any guy who was unattended and gruesomely covered him in a store's worth of makeup. Then they moved onto the next victim.

There were a few guys playing basketball at the far end of the gym, clearly not interested in the suspiciously-coloured punch. Quinn would've loved nothing more to just go with them for the rest of the night, but Thalia stopped him.

"Not a chance Harley, you're with me."

Her grip was like steel. "Pick Grover, I'm sure he's an excellent dancer."

Behind him, the satyr shrugged. "Half-decent waltz, but I'm a bit rusty at the tango."

"Grover's been here a while, nobody cares if he doesn't dance. While you on the other hand, will stick out like a sore thumb and probably get yourself killed by the French-ness Monster."

Couldn't argue with that. And that pun really deserved some recognition. "I really hate you sometimes, you know that?"

"No you don't."

* * *

"So, since when could you do that?"

"Huh?" Quinn tore his eyes away from the far side of the gym, where it looked like he was having the time of his life. Chatting with some of the other grunts, laughing, both drinking and eating a soda. And here he was, stuck dancing with Thalia.

Which if he had to admit...well, it wasn't really the worst thing in the world.

"The whole 'sniffing out demigods' thing," Thalia repeated. "You've never mentioned it before."

"Well I wouldn't really call it 'sniffing out'. More like a sixth sense, if anything." He sneaked a quick look over at the Di Angelos. Nico was still playing his card game, and Bianca was engrossed in some Roman mythology book. Sorry, wrong pantheon.

"But you couldn't tell Dr Thorn was a monster?"

"It doesn't exactly work that way. It's like..." Quinn paused for a moment, taking the opportunity to spin Thalia under his arm and pull her back towards him, provoking an impressed look from her.

"Okay, how on earth does a sixteen year old comic book geek learn how to do that?"

Quinn did his best to appear modest. Of course, he failed miserably. "Grew up with a foster family for a few years. One of their rules was that everybody had to learn to dance, because it was as important as breathing or some other inspirational bullshit."

Thalia laughed, which felt nice. "Oh, you poor thing. Must've been-wait, don't think you can change the subject." She hit him in the chest. He knew from experience that she could hit far harder than that.

"Ow. Look, it's not like I have a manual on this. Some things I know, and some I don't. Simple as that."

"So...can you tell what I'm thinking right now?"

He couldn't. But there was no reason to tell her that.

"Yes, you're thinking about how to get the pine tree smell out of your leather jacket. I recommend saltwater." He anticipated it this time, easily evading her fist.

"Listen, you-Annabeth?"

"What?" Turning around, he noticed Annabeth approaching them, a protesting Grover in hand. Quinn stepped away as they approached.

"Something wrong, Annie?" She seemed a bit confused at the sudden distance between him and Thalia, but clearly had bigger issues on the mind.

"First of all, I told you not to call me what. Second of all, have you guys looked at the twins yet?" He followed her hand, but Quinn couldn't spot the Di Angelos.

"Um, can't seem to find them...Crap."

Thalia instantly turned from her punk girl persona to her Daughter of Zeus Commander, which he had to admit was all kinds of appealing. "All right. Annabeth, take your cap and follow behind us, invisibly. Grover, get your pipes. Quinn try and find their scent, maybe we can track them that way. Percy...wait, where's Seaweed Brain?'

Annabeth look around wildly. " _Di Immortales._ I think he went after Thorn."

Great. Just what Quinn needed.


	2. Super Deadly Girl Scouts

"This is stupid."

Quin peeked out from behind the door. Thalia had her arms crossed, glaring down the hallway as if the force of her gaze would bring the quartet towards her. Sparks werent flying yet, so that was a good sign.

"Like I said, I don't have a perfect control over it, whatever it is. So we're doing this the hard way."

"I'm not talking about you Harley. It's just Percy..." She stopped, searching for the right words. "What the fuck did he think he was doing? Charging in there with no plan, no backup, against a monster that could be anything from a harpy to Lycaon himself."

Quinn frowned. "Harpies are some of the most repulsive creatures I've ever met, but even I don't think they'd stoop to using an atrocious accent like that. Also, they can't take human form."

She ignored him. "Seriously, what's with the hero attitutde? Sure, he fought my half-brother and retrieved dad's master bolt, that was impressive."

His brain stalled for a moment. Then it clicked. Percy had fought Ares, son of Zeus and his wife Hera, in a duel over a year ago. Who was also Percy's cousin. The relationships of greek mythology really made his head hurt sometimes.

"Honestly? I think he's threatened by you."

Thalia laughed. "Seriously? You're joking. If anything I should be threatened by him. I barely made it to the Camp, while he-"

"-while he went on two quests. Yes, I know. Picture this. You're the son of Poseidon, one of the most powerful Olympians. Everyone looks up to you. Then a child of Zeus comes along. She's getting all the attention now. What would you do?"

"I guess I'd be a little resentful."

"Exactly. And then to prove that he's still badass and stuff, he-" Quinn stopped dead, frowning.

"What is it?" Thalia was rubbing her bracelet nervously, moments away from unleashing her fearsome shield.

"There's a helicopter outside." He could practically feel the blades chopping the air, hear the roar of the engine. "A few people gathered around it."

"There's a landing pad on the roof, I think. So why would they..." It started to dawn on her. "Unless they wanted to do it with no witnesses. It must be Thorn."

"Knew there was a reason I kept you around. Come on, go get the others."

* * *

Quinn thought it was a very well executed plan. At least, that's what he said when Thalia asked him.

Annabeth tackled Percy and the twins to the ground, making Thorn's subsequent volley of spikes (giant porcupine?) Soar harmlessly over their heads.

Then Thalia, brandishing her Aegis copy advanced on him, forcing the monster back.

"Ah, the daughter of Zeus." Quinn noticed he had lost the accent. "My master forbids me from killing you, but it is not a wise decision to stand between me and what is mine."

Thalia's spear dipped a moment. "Luke?"

Quinn didn't know what to make of the demigod-turned-traitor. He heard how he stole the Master Bolt, allied himself with Kronos, and was plotting the downfall of the gods. But Thalia stubbornly insisted that there was still some good left in him.

He wondered if she would feel the same way about him.

Shaking off his thoughts, he could hear the monster laughing.

"That pathetic son of Hermes?" Thorn almost sounded angry at the suggestion that he would ever serve a demigod. "No I serve an older power. Far older than your petty Olympians. And I will not be denied my prey!"

Thorn started to changed. He grew larger, hunched over until he walked on four feet. While his face stayed the same, his body was now that of a lion's complete with a leathery, spikey tail.

"A manticore!" Beside him, Annabeth was visible. Her hat must've fallen off.

The kid-Nico, he thought- gasped in surprise.

"A manticore? He's got five thousand attack power and two ranged attacks?"

 _What?_

That one moment was all it needed. With a roar it launched himself towards Quinn, backhanding him several feet and into a tree.

"Quinn!" Thalia opened up a miniature mace canister, which unfolded into a celestial bronze spear. She began driving him back, thrusting forward her shield whenever he tried to attack.

"I'm alright." If Thorn (Quinn just realized why he used that name) actually used his claws, he'd be Demigod Bacon right now.

 _Alright, you might have a concussion. On the other hand, the manticore will inflict a much more permanent injury on your friends if you don't get your unclaimed ass off the ground._

He was right, as he usually was.

Quinn stood up, unravelling his rope bracelet. As he did, it turned into a whip, beautifully made of celestial bronze-coated fabric. It didn't look like much, but it could slice through hellhounds like greek butter (did they have butter?).

He cracked it towards the manticore, causing it to recoil as a long strip of crimson appeared on his face. "Down, boy!" It roared in agony.

"I will feast on your bones, Lunar Child!" What did he say?

Quinn stumbled and the manticore, sensing weakness, pounced at him. Or rather, tried to. It found its paws ensnared rope-thick weeds.

He spared a quick look behind him. Grover was playing a frantic tune, while Annabeth was tending to Percy. Looked like one of the spikes grazed his shoulder.

"I can't hold him forever," the satyr warned. "Finish him!"

"You are going nowhere!" The manticore sliced the weeds effortlessly, bounding towards Percy and the demigods.

Just then, there was the sound of a hunting horn, echoing throughout the woods.

* * *

Everyone paused. Even Dr Thorn, who seemed positively astonished.

"Impossible. This cannot be-"

A silver streak raced out of the woods, burying itself in his shoulder and turning into an arrow.

"I will kill you all!" He launched a volley of dpikes, but arrows responded just as fast. They seemed to slice apart the spikes in midair.

As he pulled the arrow out of his shoulder, a group of archers emerged from the woods.

They seemed to be between the ages of ten and fourteen, though one with blonde hair seemed to be about sixteen. They all wore matching silver parkas and jeans, like they were a girl scout group that decided to stop selling cookies and start selling pain.

"Great," Thalia mumbled, "Just wonderful."

Quinn leaned towards her. "Who are these people? Demigods?"

"Kind of," She whispered back. "They're the-"

Thalia broke off as a girl stepped forward. Judging by the circle or diadem she was wearing, she was in charge.

"Permission to engage, my lady?" _Oh, never mind. Perhaps a general of some sorts?_

Meanwhile, Thorn was complaining.

"This is not fair! Direct interference is against the Ancient Laws!" Quinn thought it was kind of hypocritical to complain about laws when he was clearly hellbent on disemboweling a handful of teenagers, but the manticore didn't seem to think so.

"Not quite."

What appeared to be a twelve year old stepped out from behind another archer. She was dressed the same as the others, but there was something about the way she walked that set her apart.

When she walked out into the moonlight, his heart stopped. Except for the obvious biological differences, she looked exactly like him.

Same auburn hair, though his was perhaps a few shades darker. With their complexion and the way they both carried themselves, she could've been his clone.

Or his mother. The girl (who's identity he had a sinking feeling about) continued on.

"You are a wild beast, and as such, fall within my domain. Permission granted."

Things were a bit of a blur after that. He remembered Thron running towards the twins, claws outstretched.

He heard the sound of the helicopter smoothly morph into the cawhing of hundreds of ravens.

He remembered seeing Annabeth, somehow jumping onto the manticore's back and sinking her dagger into him.

He definitely remembered seeing the hunters loosing a volley of arrows at Thorn, who then jumped off the cliff, with the child of athena still aboard.

Percy ran to the edge of the cliff, but it was too late.

The son of Poseidon turned upon Quinn's...rescuer.

"Who the hell do you think you are? You could've killed her!"

Ms Girl Scout General moved as if to slap him, but the girl simply raised a hand and she froze.

"Stay your hand, Zoe. He is simply distraught at the loss of his companion. He does not understand."

Then she stepped forward, saying the words Quinn had been both dreading and anticipating.

"I, am Artemis. Goddess of the Hunt."

She looked over the others, her eyes passing over Grover and the twins rather quickly. She lingered on Thalia for a moment, with a look of familiarity passing between them, not necessarily friendly.

Finally, she turned towards him. Artemis seemed to stiffen for a moment, clearly taken aback by seeing him here.

Quinn stared back. He felt cornered, like a trapped animal that knew it couldn't win.

The others stared. They looked at them, seeing the glaring similarities, and whispers started flying like the arrows they fired.

They didn't care. The standoff continued, with both seeing who would make the first move.

Artemis seemed to recover. Crossing the fresh snow without even a crunch, she turned his face to both sides, keenly examining him as if he was a fresh kill.

Apparently satisfied, she released him. She stepped back and crossed her arms.

"Quintus."

"I prefer Quinn." The words came out of his mouth on auto-pilot, not even thinking about who or what he was talking to. The hunters looked mortified, but nobody dared to interfere.

She simply raised an eyebrow, appearing somewhat amused. "Do you now? Shame. I thought it was rather well-suited to you...son."

There it was. Up until this moment he thought it cohldve been a dream, or major misinterpretations on his part. But gods didn't make mistakes. Or at least with identities they didn't, they did plenty in other areas.

Artemis' had a faint hint of a smile, as if she was listening along to the thoughts in his head. She seemed like she was about to say something.

"Okay, who are you guys?"

Quinn turned to see Bianca di Angelo, who was understandably confused at the recent turn of events.

"It's a long story. Basically, one of your parents, is an Olympian. Like us."

She frowned. He noticed she had freckles. "You mean the athletes?"

"No, the gods. Either Hephaestus, Athena, Ares, Aphrodite, Demeter, Dionysus, Hermes, or Apollo." Right. Apollo was his uncle now, he guessed.

Nico seemed ecstatic, as opposed to his older sister. "Awesome! So who is it? Because its really be cool if it was Apollo because he has his arrows of light ability but Hermes can also steal a card from the graveyard deck but Athena-"

Quinn cut him off. Clearly Nico could go on all night, and he had too much on his plate already. "I don't know. Usually, they claim you in their own time." He glanced momentarily at Artemis, who was already staring back.

Percy picked up the slack. "You should come with us to amp Half-Blood. Its this totally awesome place that's the only safe place for demigods in the world. You can train there and learn how to be heroes."

Bianca took a step back. "That's our only choice? Coming with you guys?"

Artemis' voice cut through the fear and worry like a knife. "Well for you, there is another way..."

"With all due respect Lady Artemis..." Thalia began.

"...But we can speak of that later." She didn't even seem to notice her half-sister speaking up. "Zoe, set up camp for tonight. There is much to discuss."

She turned towards him, and he saw a predator's gleam in her eyes.

* * *

His mother was twelve.

Usually, he was pretty stoic. He neer freaked out when someone fell of a pegasi at camp lik Silena did, or was as competitive as some of the Ares cabin at capture the flag. He was always mellow, blending into the background.

But encountering your nother and finding out she was Artemis, the virgin goddess of virgin goddesses, was enough to shake up Quinn a little.

And to top it all off, she looked like she was twelve.

Quinn watched her as she went around the perimeter, talking to various Huntresses stationed along it. Wolves followed her, eager to get close to the goddess of the Hunt.

He noticed birds of some sorts-falcons, he presumed- circling overhead. Most definitely under his mother's control.

Even the weather seemed to be bending to her will. The wind died down and snow was no longer falling. It even seemed warmer inside the campsite.

"Hey Quinn, is it alright if I sit down here?"

Thalia. He could tell she was worried, anyone could. The tough, punk-rockish daughter of Zeus wasn't normally one to seek permission for anything, certainly not to sit on a bumpy, snow covered log.

He nodded.

She moved to sit down, but the wolf on his other side raised its head, uttering a deep growl.

"Calm down Adal, she's a friend." Adal went back to resting her head in his lap, but was still keeping an eye on the female demigod.

"He seems to like you." She was starting out soft, just talking small talk.

"She does." He placed a hand behind her ear, scrafching the spot he quickly learned was her weakness. "One of mother's sacred animals, so I guess it's not really much of a surprise."

"About that..."

Quinn rolled his eyes. "Obviously I'm not fine. My mother, who just so happens to be the virgin goddess somehow, suddenly appear, says hi, and then skips off with her girl scout troops. And to top it off, she's twelve. Yeah, everything's totally fine."

She fell silent. They sat like that for a while. Until Quinn decided to break the silence.

"Look Thalia," He began, feeling a little guilty. "I'm not mad at you or anything, you're basically my best friend."

"I'm your _only_ friend." She corrected him.

"Shut up, and that's not true. What about the Little Merman, or Silena?"

"Right. Almost forgot about her." She had an overly carefree and innocent tone, which were both out of character for her.

He narrowed his eyes. And what's that supposed to mean?"

She shrugged. "Nothing. She seems nice."

"Oh gods, don't even joke about that. She's practically my sister. And besides, she's got her eyes fixed on Beckendorf. And anyone with two eyes can tell they're ending up together."

Thalia looked like she was going to say something, but there was the sound of snow crunching under footsteps.

"Ah, love. One of the more destructive emotions to escape from that cursed jar." Artemis sat down on his left, with Adal sinking off into the trees.

Quinn thought about how when Artemis first approached him, without the slightest crunch.

The goddess turned towards Thalia. "Could you give us a moment?"

He felt a sudden surge of defiance, stopping Thalia as she got up to leave. "No, she can stay. I'm going to tell her everything anyway, so it saves me the trouble of repeating myself."

Artemis nodded. "Very well. We all have our confidants. So what would you like to know?"

Quinn felt Thalia squeeze his hand. Any other time it would be an odd thing, but he silently thanked her for her support. "How about my father, whoever he is? Andrea, the foster care person said he died in a car accident, though I'm guessing that's as true as Aphrodite's chastity."

The goddess (did she get older mid-conversation?) looked up to the sky. "People have been turned into mice for lighter offences. She is, after all, the catalyst for your birth."

Okay, Quinn wasn't expecting that.

"Um, what?"

Artemis sighed. "About seventeen years ago, Aphrodite sought revenge for my killing of a lover of hers. She plucked a flower from his remains, and had Hecate enchant it with a very unique spell."

 _So my parents are the virgin goddess, a flower, and the magic goddess._

He thought back to how he called Silena his sister. Still wasnt exactly true, but it was somewhat closer than before. "From what I could tell, you two never got along in the myths. Why'd you trust her?"

The goddess, who seemed about 19 now, actually looked somewhat embarrassed. "She gave it to me in the form of one of my hunters, Phoebe. I should have known, I should've sensed it, but...that day was a lunar eclipse. I was weakened, distracted."

He never thought that Artemis (or Apollo) would be weakened by an eclipse. But it made sense.

Quinn's head was spinning, but he did his best to focus. "Wait, hold on. If I'm the child of two gods, why am I not a god? Or at least a minor one."

She shrugged, seeming to have halted her ageing. "Perhaps it was the flower. It may have still contained the essence of her lover. Or perhaps she willed it to be. Such things have happened before, with her husband and Athena."

"Why would she do that?"

Quinn almost jumped. He forgot Thalia was still there.

Artemis' silver eyes narrowed slightly, but she still answered the question. "My guess is for the story. Aphrodite adores putting together 'matching' lovers, no matter how many people get hurt in the process. Just look at the Trojan War. She gave away Helen of Troy, and killed thousands. A mortal son of Artemis, who was never intended to be born. She would have you as one of her most valuable stories. Or perhaps she wants you for herself, to replace her lover."

She painted a vain and petty picture of the goddess of love. Though considering the matter, she could be a bit biased...He simply nodded.

She got up, dusting off a little snow that had fallen since their conversation. "Anything else?"

"Yeah, just one. Where the _hell_ were you?"

Her eyes flashed in annoyance. "I-"

"No, save it." Beside him he felt a warning hand squeeze, but he ignored it. Maybe he should've listened to her. Maybe Artemis should've watched over him. "I've spent fifteen years in San Francisco, with no idea who my parents were. I had a new foster family every year until I ran away, because they didn't believe my stories of dogs the size of cars and people that turned into vampires. I spent a whole fucking month in a psych ward because they thought I was schizophrenic! You have no idea how bad it was..."

Artemis turned from annoyance to anger. "Gods have rules to attend to-"

" _Bullshit._ From what I see, you tramp around the country with your girl scouts, eating dirt and singing with birds. You couldn't spare one goddam day to check in with your son who-"

"Enough!" Artemis was glowing a bright silver. She took a deep breath, and the glow faded away.

"You may be my son, but absolutely _no one_ talks to me that way. Not my hunters, not Apollo, not even Zeus himself. Consider yourself lucky that you have not come to any harm." She stalked off into the woods, Adal following in her wake.

* * *

Thalia let out a deep breath, one that she seemed to have been holding for the entirety of the conversation. "Quinn..."

"Yes I know, that was a bad idea. But I had to say it."

"No, I totally get that. I was just going to say, I'm sorry." Quinn turned around, frowning.

"What?"

"I'm sorry. I mean when I ran away I had Annabeth and..." _And Luke._ But she was still holding his hand, something he just noticed.

"Yeah, I had help. But you were by yourself, and had to deal with all that stuff. I'm just saying, I'm sorry."

"...Thanks." They sat there for a moment. Quinn felt like she was going to say something else.

Instead, she moved closer, right next to him. Still holding his hand, she leaned in, closed her eyes and...

Quinn moved back. "Um, Thalia?"

Her eyes flew open, an interesting sight in a sea of red. "I-uh, I meant-"

"Yeah, I get what you were trying to do. Like, you're cool and all, and have a totally badass shield. I'd just prefer that, you know, it wasn't out of pity or anything like that."

She nodded so fast he was afraid her head would fall off that. "Yeah, I totally get that! I'm totally alright with that, its good."

"Alright." They sat there for a moment. She noticed he was still holding his hand, and hastily let go.

"So...I'm gonna see how Bianca and Nico are doing."

Quinn nodded. "Yeah, sure."

"Alright. See you, Harley."

"See you, Storm."

She walked off towards the block of tents, where he could here the distant crackling of campfires being set up.

Quinn waited until she was far enough.

Then he hit himself in the forehead with the palm of his hand, the sound echoing off the trees.

" _You fucking idiot."_

* * *

 **Oh, poor Quinn. So close and yet so far. Sorry Thuinn shippers, if you guys exist yet.**


	3. We crash the Sun (featuring Apollo)

Quinn didn't sleep well. That was understandable, considering he had about a week's worth of experiences crammed into a day. Couple that with the bad dreams demigods always seemed to get, and he woke up wondering if he should've just injected coffee into his veins.

His dreams were strange, even by demigod standards. He dreamed of a blade as black as nightmares, of wandering a mist-covered peak, and most curiously, a shrine.

There was a girl there, with long dark hair, wearing simple white robes. She turned around, but as soon as she did, the whole dream evaporated.

Annabeth told him that dreams for demigods tended to be warnings of some sort, visions from the past or future. If so, he wasn't sure what a mountain had to do with his. And it wasn't exactly like he could ask her at the moment...

With a groan, he got up from his sleeping bag, fighting the urge to fall back into it. Looking at the other (empty) sleeping bag, it seemed like Nico had already woken up, probably trying to play Mythomagic with a Hunter.

Getting back from his 'discussion' with Artemis and Thalia, he found out Grover and Percy had already split one of the tents Zoë gave them, leaving him stuck with the ten year-old. He was too tired to argue at the time, and Nico was already asleep, so he just quietly accepted it.

 _Well, no use crying over spilled nectar now. Might as well find the others._ One successful search for his shoes later, Quinn stepped out into the pre-dawn air, bumping into Percy, who was right in front of his tent.

He darted back, almost backpedaling into a tree. "Oh, hey."

"Hey." Quinn looked around the now empty forest clearing. Except for his tent, no one could tell anyone had ever been there. "Where is everyone?"

"Getting ready to leave. It's almost dawn, nobody else really fell asleep."

Quinn masaged his neck, trying to get out the kink. "Well, had a long night. Found out Artemis is my mom. And so is Hecate, the magic goddess. No, I don't want to talk about it."

Percy looked like he had a thousand more questions, but nodded. "Alright, but..."

Quinn sighed. "Fine. What is it?"

"Well...it's Bianca."

With everything that been happening, he almost forgot the name of Nico's sister. "What about her?"

Waiting momentarily for Quinn to pick up his bag, they continued walking. "Well when we were with Artemis, she joined the Hunters. Didn't even want to check out the camp or anything."

That made him pause. From what he had gleamed with a short, terse conversation with one of them (Phoebe, he thought), joining the Hunters meant immortality. But it also meant swearing off romantic love and the company of men. "I'll try talking to her. Did they already leave?"

He seemed confused at that question. "What...? Oh, you didn't hear. No, the Hunters are coming back with us to camp. Artemis had to go off and kill a monster or something. Apollo's supposed to give us a ride."

Apollo. The sun god. And his uncle, technically. Also his cousin at the same time, if he went by Aphrodite's lineage.

 _This could be interesting._

Quinn clapped his hands. "Alright, let's meet the sun god. Hopefully he doesn't kill me for insulting his sister."

"Wait, what?"

* * *

Good news! Apollo didnt run him over with the sun chariot.

Bad news? He did something much worse.

After Apollo made his impressive interest in the Sun Sports Car (Quinn wondered what happened to the horses when they switched form), there was a brief flurry of introductions. He fist-bumped Grover, high-fived Percy, and flirted with Thalia, which he thought was a bit weird (because they were half-siblings, and there was absolutely nothing else to it).

Then, he saw Quinn, and he froze.

"Quintus?"

He wasn't really sure how to respond to that. All he could do was desperately suppress the urge to correct him.

He nodded.

Apollo broke out into a huge grin. "Dude! It's been ages!"

And then he hugged him.

Quinn wasn't really much of a hugger. Sure, there was people like Silena, Thalia, and a few others at camp. But those were his friends, and it only really started feeling comfortable after a while.

Getting hugged by the god of the sun, who was one of the Twelve Olympians and could incinerate him with less than an iota of his power, was bordering on the edge of terrifying. "Um, have we met before? Sir?"

Apollo pulled back, looking disappointed. "Dude, you don't remember me? I took you on the sun chariot all the time when you were little! Of course you were like two, but still. Man, that's cold."

Nico looked awestruck. Grover and Percy just looked confused. As for Thalia...well, he wasn't exactly sure what sure of what she was thinking.

Artemis, however, just seemed faintly amused by all this. She seemed to have forgiven his little outburst.

"Brother, family reunions can wait. Eos is waiting, and so are your passengers." Eos. Goddess of the Dawn. He idly wondered if that meant there was also a goddess of the sunset.

"Right, the day's a-waiting. Where's that key...Ah, here it is!" Apollo fished out a key on a cord of Celestial Bronze. From here, Quinn could see the words 'MADE IN OLYMPUS. DO NOT MAKE COPIES OR THE SUN WILL EXPLODE'.

Pressing the alarm button on the little black box thing, the car beeped what sounded like 'I'm Walking on Sunshine', before changing from a sports car to a shuttle bus. "Come on, everybody in. We're on a tight schedule. Well not really, but I don't like dawdling."

Quinn took this as his opportunity to go talk to Bianca, who was chatting with Zoe about recurve bows or something.

"Congratulations, Huntress. Have to admit, that surprised me." Bianca beamed with pride, but Zoe just ignored him, waiting for the conversation to resume.

"Thanks! Artemis offered me the chance, So I decided to joined. It's live having a whole group of older sisters."

He tilted his head. "Yeah, siblings are pretty great. But are you sure about joining? You have a younger brother, who just had one of the biggest upheavals of his life. He'll have to move to a new place, where he knows absolutely no one."

Now her happiness faded a little, tempered with just a dash of guilt. "I.."

"Made thy choice, and that should be respected, boy." Zoe managed to look simultaneously both reassuring by placing a hand on her shoulder, and hostile by sending him a stone-cold glare. "Do I need to involve our mistress?"

Quinn put up his hands. "No need. Don't worry B, I'll keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't get stuck on the lava climbing wall or something."

Bianca, clearly puzzled, was about to question him when they were interrupted by a sharp whistle.

"Yo, you guys coming?" Apollo was leaning by the side of the Sun-Bus, clearly impatient. Probably not a good idea to annoy a second god, especially the twin of the first one.

"Yeah, sorry." As he got on the bus, sitting next to Nico, he noticed Thalia was behind the driver's seat. Somehow, Apollo had the bright idea of thinking Thalia should drive the Sun. Coincidentally, the thought of Phaethon came to mind. He was a son of Helios, who the sun god promised any one thing to prove his heritage. He swore it on the River Styx, Phaethon insisted on driving the sun chariot, and basically burnt up most of Africa. And then was hit by a thunderbolt and fell to earth as a barbecued demigod.

"You sure about this, Storm?"

Her knuckles were white on the wheel. "Yes."

Obviously, she was lying. Quinn thought about speaking up, maybe telling the sun god that letting fifteen year olds drive the sun chariot was a bad idea.

Then, he relaxed. Apollo was right there, and he would be the whole time. There was nothing to worry about.

* * *

There was something to worry about he thought, as the sun chariot bobbed on the surface of the lake (Apparently it floated. Go figure.).

Thalia stood on the dock, still as stiff as the planks underneath their feet.

"Thalia."

She flinched. "Yes?"

"Your hands."

She looked down at her hands, noticing they were still clenched into fists. Opening her hands, Quinn could see ten little crescent moon-shaped imprints in her palms.

Apollo whistled appreciatively as the naiads finished hauling the sun chariot out of the lake. "Thanks, beauties. You know, my mom always used to say if you have a problem, ask a nymph."

The nymphs giggled, retreating back under the surface. One blew an underwater kiss at the sun god. He caught it-literally, somehow he was holding it-, putting it in his pocket.

"Well, seems like everything's done here. Guess I'll be going, hopefully that warranty covers water damage..." Quinn caught him before he could step onto the chariot/bus.

Apollo's face darkened as he looked at the demigod holding onto his arm. "You wanna reconsider that?" His skin was getting uncomfortably warm.

Quinn hastily let go before he exploded. "Sorry. I just wanted to know, why did she put me in San Francisco? From what ive heard, its basically Tartarus for demigods."

And just like that his face cleared up, leaving him with his same cocky look. "Oh, don't sweat it. Basically Artemis figured that with all the titan magic coming from You-Know-Where and some other things, she figured you'd be pretty much cloaked from any huge monsters. Even the greek gods tend to stay away from there, so-"

"Wait, she wanted to hide me from other gods?" Something about what he said rubbed Quinn the wrong way, like he had unintentionally skipped over a huge gold mine.

Apollo shrugged. "I can think of a dozen gods off the top of my head that could find a use for a child of two Olympians, not all of them bad. Anyways, its best for a mortal kid not to attract the attention of us. Speaking of which, are any of mine here?"

Now it was Quinn's turn to shrug. "Michael, I think? Should be practicing archery in the arena at this time."

"Alright, guess I'll head over there before taking off. Quinn, always a pleasure." He winked at Thalia before strolling off, leaving patches of wet grass wherever he walked.

Quinn let out a breath. It was surprising how close he came to incineration twice. But they were twins, so it probably didn't count as much. "Alright. Off to cabin Eight I go, I guess."

Zoë grabbed his arm. "Excuse me? The Hunters and I will be using the cabin, not thou."

He resisted the urge to break her arm (or at least try to). "Oh wow, I never were all children of Artemis. That's what all the cabins here are reserved for, right?"

"Yes, but-"

"So," he interrupted, as he maneuvered out of her grasp, "Ill take it. You guys can sleep in the woods and eat bugs or something, I don't care."

She just grabbed him again. "Artemis declared that the cabin was reserved for our use, not thou's. Perhaps you could like to consult thy mother?"

Perhaps it wasn't a good idea to argue with approximately fifteen armed girls who already disliked him. "Whatever. It'd probably take millennia to get that Hunter smell out anyway."

Zoë, giving him a final heavy glare, led the hunters past him to the row of cabins. He noticed they hardly made any noise at all in the snow, not even Bianca.

Grover clapped his hands together, breaking the short but sweet silence he was quickly getting attached to. "So! Guess we should go tell Chiron and Mr D about Artemis and Apollo and...um, yeah."

His voice trailed off towards the end. Quinn barely knew Annabeth, but he even he didn't want to mention her. Because he knew that as soon as they did, they'd have to accept that she was lost.

Quinn looked over towards the Big House, which was festivly decorated in Christmas lights. He decided to put aside the questions that popped up about millennia-old gods celebrating a relatively recent holiday. "You'd think they would notice the sun chariot crashing into the lake. Wonder what's keeping them."

* * *

Cards, as they found out. Dionysus had won the latest hand, which is why he was wearing the laurel crown when the three of them and Nico (Grover had gone to see if the Hunters needed help 'settling in') walked up the porch steps. It seemed a bit unfair to play a game of chance against a god, but his opponent never seemed to mind.

Chiron, immortal centaur an one of the only teachers he could stand greeted them warmly, even though he seemed to be losing quite badly.

"Welcome back heroes! This must be our newest camper, yes?"

Quinn nodded, placing a hand on Nico's shoulder. He didn't seem to care. The kid was probably too busy wondering how many hit points the Pegasus he saw on the way over had.

"Chiron, Dionysus, Nico do Angelo."

"Welcome to our camp, Mr di Angelo."

Dionysus merely grunted in reply, not even bothering to look up from his Diet Coke.

He continued on. "Unclaimed, with an older sister, but she decided to accept Artemis' offer to become one of her Hunters, who are currently taking over cabin Eight because she has to go hunt something. Also, Apollo gave us a ride here."

That got a reaction from the wine god. He glanced up, his eyes briefly passing over the quartet. "Apollo. Hmph, he still owes me for that crate of olympian wine. Chiron, your turn."

The centaur absentmindedly placed down one of his cards face down. "I see...a bit unusual, but she will be quite safe as one of her chosen. But lets not dwell on that, you three had a successful mission, and should celebrate that."

The silence that followed was almost painful.

The smile on his face slowly faded away. "...Nico, was it? Why don't you get inside and find Argus, he'll give you your orientation."

Nico didn't seem to understand what was going on. "Do I have to?"

Quinn knelt down a bit, getting to eye level. "He has hundreds of eyes all over his body. He even has one on his tongue."

"Cool!" Nico was out of there in a flash.

Once the ten year-old was out of earshot, Chiron threw down his cards, giving up the game. He turned to Percy, with a stern but not unkind look. "Tell me everything."

Percy told the whole story, from when they figured out Thorn was a monster, until Annabeth leaped on his back. He couldn't get the ending out, just trailing off.

"Oh dear. Poor Annabeth..." Quinn remembered her telling him that she had been at camp since she was seven. She was practically his daughter by now.

In stark contrast to Chiron's worried expression, Dionysus was uncaring and unimpressed. At best, he seemed annoyed that this had interrupted his card game.

As much as he disliked how demigods tended to be carbon copies (or gender-flipped) of their godly parent, Quinn had to admit that Annabeth was a true daughter of Athena. She was one of the smartest people he had ever met. If any one of them could escape an enemy camp, it'd be Annabeth.

But if she met Luke when she was seven...well, that's what he was worried about, and so was Thalia, probably. If he got in her head, played on her weaknesses...

Quinn shook his head. She was smart. She could do this. Tuning back into the conversation, he heard Dionysus talking.

"One annoying child lost, one annoying child gained. From what I see, we broke even on this quest."

Percy stood up, knocking over the chair.

"Percy." It was never a good idea to get into a fight with a god, much less an Olympian. But considering Dionysus was also the god of madness, it was probably better for Percy to hug the lava wall.

Percy being Percy, totally ignored him. "We just lost someone who's been here for years. How would you like this if it was Pollux or Castor?"

Dionysus looked up. "Excuse me?" His voice was deadly calm. Quinn remembered the story of him turning a crew of pirates into dolphins. He'd probably turn him into a clam.

"When Zeus made you director here as punishment, I'm pretty sure you were supposed to actually do work. Maybe you should stop playing cards and actually get off your ass!"

Everything was silent. The snow seemed to stop falling. The god of wine seemed to have purple fire crackling in his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something-

Quinn quickly interrupted. "So I found out my mom's Artemis."

Chiron almost knocked over his cup. "What?"

Dionysus frowned, turning to him. The fire seemed to have dimmed, but it was still there. "Don't be ridiculous, boy. In case you've forgotten all your education, Artemis is a virgin goddess, you-"

"She told me herself. I swear it on the river Styx." Thunder boomed overhead as he made the oath. As he still had all his limbs and internal organs, he didn't hallucinate the entirety of last night.

Dionysus and Chiron both gaped at him, Percy entirely forgotten. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Thalia dragging Percy off the porch.

Dionysus snapped his finger, summoning three new Diet Cokes. "Tell us everything."

* * *

And so he did. When he got to the part where Hecate was also his mother, Chiron spat out soda all over his sweater.

"Oh pity, this was a gift from Carystus. Mr D, do you think you could...?"

He snapped his fingers and the sweater was clean again.

"Thank you."

Quinn shifted in his seat. "So, any thoughts?"

Dionysus nodded, clearly distracted. Quinn thought about how odd it was to see him serious for once. Usually he seemed to exist in an eternal state of indifference and apathy. "Back in Greece, this was a little before my time, but Hecate and Artemis were worshipped as part of a trinity."

"Who was the third part?"

Dionysus waved away the question. "Oh, just some female titan, Selene. She's not around anymore, though. But still it may be an interesting point, is it not my dear centaur?"

Chiron nodded. "With all due respect, spates between gods are rather common. There may be no deeper reason. But yes, it could prove its use."

"Anyways, it's sure to be brought up at the solstice meeting."

He felt uncomfortable with the discussion, as if he was the unexpected result of a science experiment.

"So...which cabin am I staying in?"

They seemed surprised. Chiron clearly wasn't thinking about that.

"Hmm. If this was any other case, I'd say it is your right to use the Artemis cabin. Given the circumstances, would you be alright with staying in the Big House for a few nights, at least until the Hunters leave?"

Quinn nodded. "Yeah, I get it. In any other situation I'd probably be fine with sleeping in the same room as fifteen girls." He got up from his chair, brushing off the light layer of snow that settled. "So if there's not anything else..."

Dionysus silently waved him away. It appeared Quinn had already lost his attention.

Thank god he was out of the Hermes cabin, he thought to himself. It was almost impossible to have a quiet moment to yourself, and everything that was detachable or not on fire would be stolen. Once someone managed to steal the hair off an unclaimed kid's head. He never did end up getting it back.

Quinn walked down the steps, wondering what to do with his newfound free time. No cabin inspections, no cabin curfews, no schedules.

 _Wonder if Silena's here._ The daughter of Aphrodite didn't say whether or not she would be staying over the winter break, just giving him a noncommittal shrug. Though she did seem interest when he mentioned a certain son of Hephaestus would be there.

In his mind's eye, he heard the flapping of wings and Silena, using a reassuring tone. Hooves clicked across a wooden floor.

The stables, maybe? He wasn't really sure why she would be there at this hour, but his Demigod Senses hadn't been wrong yet. With a shrug to no one in particular, he decided to go check it out.

* * *

"You idiot!"

Turned out that Silena actually _was_ in the stables. Something about seasonal pegasi feeding requirements. After she almost crushed him in a bone-breaking hug, they got to talking about how his quest went. And then thats how it led to talking about him and Thalia.

And that was why she was currently hitting him with a Celestial Bronze pegasi brush.

"Ow! Stop it already!"

"You had the once in a lifetime opportunity, and _you freaking blew it!"_

Quinn had enough of this. Quickly disarming her, he tossed the brush into a bundle of hay on the other side of the stables.

"Alright, first of all; I was kinda distracted by the whole 'Demigod has Two Mommies' thing going on with Artemis and Hecate. Second of all, it's not once-in-a-lifetime, I'll have plenty of chances."

Silena snorted derisively, crossing her arms. "Yeah and I'm Helen of Troy. You're terrible at talking to pretty girls."

"That explains why I feel so comfortable talking to you."

"Shut up. My point is, you're utterly inept at romantic encounters. Have you even kissed a girl before?"

Quinn thought about it for a moment. "A girl? No."

Her eyes almost bugged out of her head, but before she could interrogate him anymore the stable door opened, and in stepped Thalia Grace.

"Um, hey guys."

Silena quickly put on her best you-two-are-cute-together smile. "Hey Thalia! Quinn here was just helping me care for the pegasi."

Thalia had a small smile. Quinn wondered how much of their conversation she had overheard. "Really? Didn't know you knew much about them."

He shrugged. "I'm full of surprises." Silena nodded, shoving a bag of feed in his arms.

"Yeah, he's pretty great in the saddle. You should really check him out sometime-that is, on a pegasi." Quinn wanted to hit her, but his arms were occupied.

"Sure, maybe some time." Thalia was kidding with something she was holding. A thin, flat package of some sort. "Hey Silena, do you think you could give us a moment-"

She had barely finished before Silena was out the door.

"Thanks," she said to no one in particular. For a few moments, the only sound was the rustling of feathers as the pegasi shifted in their stalls.

Quinn put down the feed on a crate. One determined soul had managed to peek his head out enough to start munching down, but he didn't really register that. "So, uh, what did you want to talk about?"

Thalia started stepping closer. "Its kind of been a rush in the past day or so. The mission, getting back to camp, and you know, finding out your whole parentage. So I understand if you're like not really in the mood or anything, but I think I need to do this."

"Um. What are you doing exactly?"

She was less then a arm's reach away. "Quinn. I just wanted to say..."

* * *

 **And that seems like a perfect place to end it. Feel free to leave a review, whether to thank me or chew me out for cliffhangers is up to you.**


	4. Ms Sunshine is Not Pleased

"Happy Birthday."

Quinn blinked in surprise. What? His birthday was... _Oh, right._ When they took the mission to Westover Hall, that was the first time they had seen each other in weeks. Being a year-round camper, his birthday had passed pretty quietly on the tenth.

"Oh, thanks." Quinn opened the package. Inside was a first edition copy of the last issue of _The Infinty Gauntlet._ For a moment, he totally forgot everything that had happened in the past day or so.

"Holy shit." He looked at her, bug-eyed. "How the hell did you manage to afford this?"

Thalia shrugged, doing her best to appear modest. "Saved an unclaimed girl from a empousai. Apparently she collected comic books, gave me this as a thank-you gift."

He flipped through the pages. Quinn could barely process anything. "Wow. Just...ow. Thanks Storm, I mean it."

"Hey, what are friends for?"

* * *

"Wait, so he destroys half the universe and they just decided to leave him alone?"

"Yup."

"And then after becoming basically omnipotent, he decides to become a farmer. Seriously?"

"Yeah comics can be a bit weird that way."

Quinn and Thalia were in Cabin One, in their usual arrangement. He was reading a comic book, and Thalia was reading along with him. She didn't seem to be particularly interested in them, though.

Getting to the last page, he closed it and tossed it aside. "Well, I'm done with this. Time to never open it again and let it collect dust in a display case because its a collector's item."

Thalia put her hands on her hips, appearing 'outraged'. "I bought that with my hard-earned money, you know."

"No you didn't. You killed an empousai for it. If anything, you made money from it. You could've had a nice new leather jacket from selling this."

Thalia smiled, adjusting her position to prop up her head with her hand. "But instead, I decided to give it to you. What does that say about me?"

Silence grew. Her smile faded as her face turned red, shifting her glance. Quinn wondered if this would be what their friendship ended up like. A few laughs, a few smiles, but then they'd remember that little memory of a snow-covered forest. He sighed, sitting up.

"You know," He began cautiously, "I talked to Silena earlier, in the stables."

Thalia sat up. She looked wary, as if there was a drakon hiding underneath the pillow. "About?"

He shrugged. "Different things. I told her about that whole thing with Artemis and Hecate. She just said that she always knew I was special."

"Really?"

"Nah, she just said 'That's weird'. And then afterwards, she started hitting me with the pegasi brush."

She laughed, and with that, the strange silence seemed to evaporate. "That must've hurt. Why was she doing that?"

"Oh, she was criticizing me. Said I blew the once chance I had with you. She doesn't really think much of my charm." It was cute, he thought, how easily words like that could make a girl like Thalia blush.

"Oh." She started rubbing her bracelet, which he knew was a nervous habit of hers. Hopefully she wouldn't pull it out. The severed head of Medusa tended to be a mood-killer, what with the terror-inducement and all. "What...what did you say back?"

Her voice was little more than a whisper. For a brief moment Quinn hesitated, wondering if it was a bad idea. _Wait, so you can tell an Olympian to shut up, but you can't tell a girl you like her._

And as usual, the little annoying voice in his head was right.

"I said she was overreacting. Children of Aphrodite are that way, and Silena is nothing if not her mother's daughter. And you know me. I've killed an angry empousai with my bare hands. Telling an absolutely amazing girl I like her is a cakewalk compared to that."

Quinn had seen Thalia smile hundreds of times. When he told a terrible joke, when she was driving a chariot, and a few seconds later after the former when she ran over a hellhound.

But this time, her whole face just seemed to _light_ up. He realized it was now or never.

Leaning in, Quinn kissed Thalia Grace.

It was amazing. Sparks flew. No, sparks literally flew. He could hear the popping sounds. Another nervous tell of hers.

After what seemed like either an eternity or only a few seconds, Quinn pulled back and tried to remember how to breathe.

Thalia remembered first. "Was that your first kiss?'

After a few seconds of just opening and closing his mouth, he found his voice. "No. Was that yours?

"No."

He had a pretty good guess about who it was.

Thalia seemed to pick up on that. She kissed him again, which felt just as intense as the first one. "Hey. So what are we doing as a first date?"

 _First date._ He was doing his best to comprehend that Thalia was saying those words to him. "I don't know. Killing a drakon?"

She laughed, kissing him for the third time. "Sounds perfect."

* * *

During dinner, Quinn felt like he walking on air.

He barely noticed the whispers and pointed looks. Apparently, Percy had told Grover about the whole 'When a Demigod Has Two Mommies' Hecate-Artemis situation. Then Grover told that to his girlfriend Juniper, a dryad. And thn she told it to a loose-lipped blueberry bush, who told it to one of her satyr friends...and that was how everyone had learned about his situation.

Ofcourse, sitting right beside Chiron probably didn't help quell the whispers.

There were only about a dozen campers staying over the winter break, which made the usual cheery dining pavilion somewhat muted. The only exception being the Artemis table. Everyone, even Ms Zoe Sunshine, was laughing and smiling. Bianca was arm wrestling Phoebe, her face bright even though she was losing miserably.

Quinn took a peak over at the Zeus table. Even though there were barely a cabin's worth of campers, Chiron still insisted that everyone sat at their proper table, even the children of the Big Three. Except for him, of course. Hecate didn't have one, and the Hunters would probably castrate him if he dared to sit with them.

Thalia was picking at her food, seemingly lost in thought. When she saw him looking at her, she winked.

He looked away, feeling his face warm up. Over at the Aphrodite table, Silena gave him a thumb's up. He rolled his eyes.

"Quinn."

"Hmm?" He was ripped away from his thoughts by Chiron, who had a sort of exasperated with a hint of amusement expression on his face.

"I just wanted to remind you of certain camp rules."

"Hey look, whatever Travis said, I didn't-"

Chiron held up a hand. "I would advise you not to incriminate yourself. And that was not what I was referring to."

Quinn frowned. "Then what?"

"Cabin conduct. As in who should and who would not be in a an empty cabin, for example."

 _Oh._ He looked down at his pizza, wishing he could turn invisible. Maybe he could borrow Annabeth's cap from Percy.

Chiron seemed to sense his embarrassment. Of course he did, Quinn thought, he must've had this talk hundreds of times over the years.

"That is not to say that your, um, _relationship_ is banned. It just means that you have a certain responsibility to-"

The line at the brazier had ended, and he took the opportunity. "Oh hey! Almost forgot about the tribute to the gods, I should go do that." He took his plate like a lifeline and speed-walked away to the fire before Chiron could say more.

Once he was there however, Quinn slowed down. What should he do? Sacrifice to Artemis (from what he could tell she was the one who gave birth to him)? Sacrifice to Hecate (he already met Artemis)?

He decided to take a third option. "For both of you, Mothers."

The smell of the smoke changed. It had sort of a wild, earthly smell to it, before it shifted into the smell of a strange sort of herb. Spell ingredients, perhaps? Whatever it was, he didn't have much time to think about it before Silena scurried up to him, whisper-shouting excitedly.

"Oh my god Quinn! Never thought you'd have the balls to do it." He moved aside to let her sacrifice a portion of her salad.

"Charming. Balls to do what, exactly?"

Playing dumb didnt work. Not that h really expected it to work. She flicked him on the chest lightly. Like Thalia, he knw she could do real damage if she ever wanted to.

"You know what I'm talking about, Handkerchief Dude. You and Thalia!"

A son of Demeter was waiting to give part of his organic zero-fat milkshake, so they moved to the edge of the tables. "Okay, this a whole different thing from Erik-whatever, so don't call me that. And now...does this mean I get to lecture you on-"

Quinn stopped. Over at the Artemis table, Zoë Nightshade was glaring at him with absolute distaste, as if he was about to abject an innocent maiden for dastardly deeds.

"You'd think she'd at least tolerate me, considering who one of my mothers is. But that just seems to make it even worse. Come on." They started walking up to the Big House. Except for the occasional giggle of a dryad or the sound of monsters rustling around in the woods, it was silent.

"So who was that guy you kissed?"

He turned to look at her. She was fiddling with a twig, doing her best to appear as if they were talking about nothing more than the weather.

Up ahead the Big House was dark. Dionysus and Chiron were both still at dinner, and he knew for a fact that Argus didn't need light. It was just that people tended to freak out when they saw hundreds of eyes staring at them in the dark. "Who said it was a guy?"

"Well you clearly stated that you kissed _someone_ , and you said it wasn't a girl. So unless you kissed a god or something-"

"Gods have genders, they're just really flexible-"

"Or _something_ , then it was a guy. So was he a mortal? A demigod?" She leaned forward. "Wait, was it Percy?"

"What, no! He's like 14."

"So?" They sat down on the porch, watching the dim glow of the dining pavilion. "Aphrodite's older than the Titanomachy, but she still had Hephaestus as a husband. A year and a bit is nothing compared to that, you're fine."

"Even so, I think Annabeth might object to that."

"Yeah, you're right. They're basically a couple." They sat in silence together on the bench, enjoying the cool night air. The snow had stopped falling, and it was just warm enough for him to feel fine in his hoodie.

"His name was Alexander. Hated the name, but I called him that anyways. Unclaimed, adopted, so no idea which godly parent it was. But that never bothered him." Quinn started tapping his fingers on the wood. Habit of his. "Met him in...Colorado, when I was making my way to New York."

Silena furrowed her brow. "I met you in Wichita, though. What happened?"

He sighed. "Monster attack. Didn't really get a look at it, it was at night. I woke up, heard the sound of screaming, Alex telling me to run...And that was it."

Silence. She seemed lost for words. Understandably, of course.

"Oh my gods. I'm, I'm so sorry Quinn."

"It's fine," he lied. "You know, the monsters back then seemed a bit too much, even for two demigods. I thought Alex could be a child of the Big Three and was attracting the extra monsters, but now..." He shook his head. "Never mind. I should get to bed, its been a long day."

"Alright. See ya." One quick hug later, and she was strolling off through the snow.

He got inside, to the room he was staying in upstairs. It had a bed, a small restroom off to the side, and nothing else. But it had a bed, and that was all he cared about at the moment.

As Quinn got dressed, he wondered how likely it would be that he has a good dream for once.

* * *

Not very likely, as he found out.

Quinn dreamed he was running through a forest. Not in the way that a rabbit might run but that of a hunter, closing in on their prey. He was running fast, faster than he ever had before, but he was barely breathing at all

He felt like...a god.

Sensing his quarry up ahead, he put on a final burst of speed and broke through the tree line.

Nothing. An empty clearing, devoid of anything but grass. He was sure that he had the scent right. Of course he had the right scent, he felt like he could smell the taste of wine on a man's breath a mile away. But did it feel him coming, or did he...

No. Something felt wrong. Two silver hunting knives seemed to emerge out of nowhere. Quinn had never seen the weapons before, but he wielded them like he was born with them.

A laugh echoed throughout the air, inexplicably filling him with dread. A man, taller than the trees themselves, walked into the clearing. He wore only a elegant suit, but danger radiated from him like heat from a fire.

His voice sounded like it was carved from rock. His face, while handsome, had a permanent sneer carved onto it. "And so the hunter becomes prey themselves. Give up, little goddess. You cannot possibly win."

Quinn felt a snarl growing on his face. He spoke in a voice that wasn't his own. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it at the moment. "I swear on the Styx, I will put you back underneath your burden."

And then he launched himself at the giant.

* * *

At that moment, Quinn was woken up by a loud hammering.

He bolted upright, his bracelet unraveling into a whip by the time he got to his feet.

He was in the Big House. Right. He was staying here while the Hunters of Artemis were in Cabin Eight. Speaking of which...

The sound continued, which he realized was someone knocking on the front door. A Hunter. It just felt right to him, like how the sky was blue and grass was green.

He contemplated just staying in bed, but the knocking started again. With a groan, he curled the whip back into its bracelet form, heading down the cold stairs. Apparently they weren't rich enough to leave the heating on, even though one of the residents was an actual god. Or maybe they didn't really care about the temperature, seeing as the other inhabitant was half-horse.

Quinn yanked open the doors, revealing one Zoë Nightshade, who had her fist raised to knock again.

She seemed surprised to see him. She lowered her fist. "What are thee doing here?"

"I could ask _thee_ the same question."

He noticed she had a silver night robe on, the silver fur barely reaching to her knees. Zoë was also barefoot, snow still melting on her ankles. Quinn wondered what was so urgent that she felt the need to rush over.

She crossed her arms defensively. "I need to see Chiron."

"He's _sleeping._ Like I was doing before you decided to wake everyone up with that hammering. What do you want with him."

Zoë shifted uncomfortably, but not from the cold (that robe must've been luxurious). Something else was bothering her.

"I had a dream."

"So did Martin Luther King, but you don't see him waking up people for that."

"I care not for the dreams of mortals."

"He was a demigod. Son of Zeus, I think?"

"Enough!" Zoë took a deep breath. He noticed she had her silver circle on. Did she sleep with it, he wondered?

"It was a vision. I was bounding through the woods. I was tracking something, a beast I think, and then-"

Quinn's stomach dropped off of a hundred-foot rollercoaster ride. "-And then there was a man who's voice sounded like it was carved from rock itself."

Instantly, all her annoyance was wiped from her face. "You had the dream too?"

He nodded. In the back of his mind he noted that she had said _you_ and not _thee_ , but he felt that it was the wrong time of all wrong times to bring it up now. "You woke me up right when I was about to fight him."

Zoë looked chastised. "I...apologize. I thought it was of the most vital importance I bring it to Chiron."

"Understandable. I probably-"

"-Should be in bed. As should you, Lieutenant Nightshade." Chiron trotted to the doorway, his horse tail in curlers. He had so many questions about that, but it was still the wrong time to start bringing up minor things.

He felt the need to stand up for her. "She came to tell you something about a dream she had. I had the same one too."

His expression changed. Folding his arms across his shirt with the logo of a centaur holding a surfboard above the words 'PARTY PONIES ANNUAL MEETING, 1898' in bright green, he had a frown that went back and forth between them.

"Very well. Let's hear it."

Zoë launched into it. Her dream had ended just before his, waking up just as the man had come into view.

Chiron scratched his beard. "I must admit, it is somewhat unusual for two demigods to have the same dream. Even more so for a godling and a nymph."

He stole a quick glance at Zoë. She was a nymph? It did explain her timeless look, even for a Huntress. She could've been anywhere from sixteen to thirty. Though she didn't look like a dryad or a naiad, and definitely wasn't transparent enough for a wind nymph. But back to what Chiron had caught him.

"A godling?" He echoed.

The centaur nodded. "The mortal child of two gods. Extremely rare, but it has happened once before. The king of Athens, Erichthonius, was the child of Hephaestus and Gaia, the earth goddess. They usually age and live in the same manner as demigods, but with no human parent."

"Um...alright." He was surprised at how much things had changed in the last thirty-six hours or so. Quinn did his best to remember what they were talking about. "So. You were talking about the dreaming."

It might have just been the pre-dawn light, but Chiron looked almost rueful. Evidently he thought that Quinn would be too distracted to focus on it.

"Yes, you two do share a connection. You are the child of Artemis, while she is her most trusted lieutenant. It may simply be that."

"It is not the messenger I am concerned with Chiron, but the dream. Our lady is in danger."

While they argued back and forth, Quinn noticed a strange sight. A bush about thirty feet away seemed to be rustling as if it had a hyperactive nymph attached to it. It also had a pair of goat horns protruding from it.

 _Grover._ Quinn had to admit, it was kind of creepy how obsessed the satyr was with his mother and her hunters. He'd have to talk to him about that.

"-And as Artemis said for you to wait here until she called for you, I must insist you remain."

"How can we do that if our goddess is lost." She turned towards Quinn, almost pleading. "Please, Quintus. Don't thee wish to save thy mother?"

"There's a difference between her being in a battle and being in danger. She's Artemis. She can care for herself..." He wasn't sure if it was that Sixth Sense that seemed to be popping up again, but a thought occurred to him. "Unless she's facing an impossible opponent, even for an Olympian. But how would you know that from a dream?"

Zoe was silent on that. "That is not your concern, boy."

"Oh, its 'boy' now? And here I was thinking we were on a first name basis, Zo'."

Even though she was in little more than pajamas she moved towards him, as if she was going to kill him with a fur coat.

Chiron stomped a good against the wooden floor. "Enough, both of you. Quinn, don't antagonize her. Ms Nightshade, you already know the rules of combat here."

He vaguely remembered Percy telling him that the Hunters had apparently visited the camp before. It didn't go well, ending with several of the cabins being burnt down. With Zoë's attitude, that was hardly surprising.

The centaur continued on. "The rules stand. You and your Hunters will remain here, until Lady Artemis calls for you, and not a minute before. Is that clear?"

She whipped around, stalking off into the snow without a word.

Chiron sighed. "That went well."

* * *

By noon, Zoë Nightshade hated him more than ever. If it wasn't for Chiron, he probably would've been missing quite a few body parts.

Quinn sat on a bale of hay, watching as the centaur led archery lessons in the arena with the first-years. It wasn't going well. Two campers already had to leave because they injured themselves, and one just left in a huff.

Nico was doing alright (no major injuries), though he kept on trying to hold the bow in what he presumably thought was a heroic pose, but it just made him miss the majority of his shots.

He walked over to him. "Lower your arm. You're supposed to be shooting at the target, not the ceiling. And the other arm should be level. Actually, it'd probably just be easier for me to show you."

It was a bit short for him. Still, he made it work. He took a step back, raised his shoulder, aimed and the target, and fired.

Bullseye.

He fired a second, third, and fourth shot, automatically loading the bow like had been doing this his whole life, despite never picking up one before in his life.

Quinn looked around and realized that the whole clump of ten and eleven year-olds were staring at him, mouths wide open.

 _Well well well. It seems like Artemis gave you a few gifts._ Artemis was one of the twin archers, after all. It was only natural that'd he pick up a fraction of her talents.

"Um. Yeah, so that's how you do it." He clapped Nico on the shoulder. "You'll pick it up in no time."

He stepped out into the snow, looking up at the perpetually gray skies. It almost made him feel homesick. Almost. For all its quaint charms, it seemed like there was a hellhound hiding under every window. They didn't seem to notice him that much in the city, but once he stepped out of it...

"Hey Quinn, got a minute?" Percy. With Grover trailing beside him. He could guess what this was about.

"If I say no, are you going to go away?"

"No." He wasn't really expcting anything else.

He sighd, more for appearance then actual frustration. "Alright. How can I be of service?" He started walking towards the Big House, forcing the shorter demigod to speed up.

"I had a dream. About Annabeth."

"We're friends Percy, but you don't need to tell me about _those_ kind of dreams."

"What, no! It wasn't like that, it was-" Quinn had to admit, Percy was kind of cite when he got all flustered about his demigod 'friend'. "Luke was there too."

Okay, that got his attention. He halted, almost crashing into Grover. "Tell me everything."

* * *

 **I was planning on including the Capture the Flag game in this chapter too, but it would've made this much longer than it already is. So we're ending here, and the next one should cover the rest of the events at camp. Until then.**


	5. Post-Prophecy Blues

"So that's three. Zoe and I had the dream about Artemis, and Percy about Annabeth and Luke." Quinn was at the head table (again), telling him about his talk with Percy earlier today. It wasn't going so well.

Chiron, back in his wheelchair form, frowned at his salad like it had kidnapped Artemis. "How did he say she was trapped? Underneath a cavern of some sorts?"

"Like solid darkness, forming a ceiling above her. Luke told her 'try not to die', like holding it would kill her or something."

He paled. "Quinn, if that is what I think it is..." He formed a three-fingered claw with his right hand and pushed outwards. A gesture for warding off evil, was what Thalia had told him. "Then this man is far more dangerous then you realize."

"He's the General, right? Of what? Why's he so dangerous?"

No answer. Chiron pursed his lips instead, staring off at an invisible answer board. "After the games, first thing in the morning, bring Ms Nightshade to the attic. Should the Oracle of Delphi speak to either one of you, a quest will be permitted. Understand?"

Quinn wanted to point out that a prophecy already meant you _had_ to go on a quest, the permission of immortal centaurs and wine gods alike be dammed to Tartarus. "Crystal clear, Director."

"Good. In any case, its time for Capture the Flag. I do hope we make it to end without any fatalities this time around."

* * *

From the look Zoe gave him, Chiron was going to be disappointed.

"Easy there, cupcake." He held his hands up, showing he didn't have anything like one of the Stoll brothers' Vomiting Mints. Only because the Ares cabin had found out and raised a big fuss about unsportsmanlike conduct, causing Chiron to confiscate them, but still. No plans of sabotage. For today, at least.

In the huddled group of Hunters, he could very faintly hear the sound of knives unsheathing.

The lieutenant in question stepped forward, breaking off a conversation with a Hunter that seemed vaguely familiar. "What do thee want, boy?"

With a minor shock, he realized the Hunter she was speaking to was Bianca di Angelo. It had only been a couple of days, give or take, but he barely recognized her in her silver uniform. She had a strangle glow about her, though it could've been from the sheer density of silver parkas in the area.

He shiftd his gaze back to the hostile Ms Sunshine, fighting the urge to unravel his bracelet. "Just needed to talk to you for a moment. Alone, if possible."

Pheobe, the girl who he heard had almost skewered a camper over a game of basketball, stepped forward menacingly.

"Why?"

"None of your business, hopscotch." Why did he say _that_ , of all possible annoying nicknames? Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, it seemed to have the predicted effect on her. She reached for her bow (what was she supposed to do, shoot him from two feet away?).

Zoe waved away her aggression. "Pheobe, attend to the flag. I will deal with this boy." Somehow, she managed to make a request for a short friendly chat sound like an execution.

They walked over to by the empty Apollo table, which was the furthest one away from the Artemis table, oddly enough.

The Hunters, with one or two that had enough tact to pretend to do other things, were openly glaring/watching him and Zoe. Quinn noticed that some of them looked like they had been crying.

"You told them about the dream?"

She folded her arms, her silver circlet glowing in the torch-light. "They are my sisters in arms. Some have been Hunters for millennia. I trust only thy mother above them. Artemis, that is."

Not for the first time, Quinn wondered how old she was. As a nymph, she could've been born anywhere from two weeks ago to when Ouranos' blood spilled on fertile earth. Yet she spoke in Shakespearean English.

 _Thy mother._ His eyes narrowed. "How much do you know about me?"

Her reply was short. "Everything."

For once, no clever response or witty comment came to mind. He blinked. "Um, alright. Anyway...Chiron said we could go see the Oracle. See if she givs either one of us a prophecy. In the morning."

She muttered a few words he couldn't quite understand, but could probably guess that they weren't sympathetic to the centaur. "Very well. I will consult the Pythia tomorrow at dawn, regardless of thy presence." And without a goodbye, or a thank you, or even a curt nod, she simply ignored him and walked back to her Girl Scout troop.

* * *

"You forgot your glasses."

"Hmm?" Quinn looked up at Thalia, who was leaning by a tree while he disarmed one of the Hunter's nasty little traps. A basic snare, that would send an unwary camper hurtling up into an oak tree. Perfectly fair and square, except there was a rather large hornet's nest right above them. Even with their dormancy, it'd still take someone out of the game.

"Your glasses. You forgot them. Probably would be a good idea to have them if you're dealing with close up things that require a delicate touch."

He swiftly cut through the rest of the rope and threw it aside, pulling out a little black case with the other hand. "I didn't forget them. I just don't like wearing them. I can see fine without them. Also, they make me look like a nerd."

Thalia raised an eyebrow. "Really? Makes you look kinda cute. But I guess that's just my opinion. What would I know."

Quinn silently swore to never take them off again. _Play it safe, you imbecile._ He sighed, making a big theatrical fuss about. "If it stops you from nagging me about it, then fine." Thalia was right. Now he could notice the glint of netting in the tress, ensuring that the victim would be in very close quarters with tiny murderbots.

She'd probably be fine not knowing. He'd never be able to live it down.

He pused for a moment, listening to the sounds of the forest. Th rest of their group had split off again, looping around to attract any stragglers that didn't fall for the first division. With luck, nobody would be suspecting them. And his weird Spidey Senses didn't seem to tell him anyone was around. Or maybe it stopped working. Quinn preferred to look on the bright side of things.

"Speaking of actions, and if they'r a good idea or not, are you sure it was a good idea to be co-captains with Percy?"

She whispered back, while gently pointing out a mysterious sealed jar that was hanging by a thread from an oak tree. "What do you mean? _You_ were the one who told me to try not to upstage him. This way we both get the glory."

Quinn, who was pretty sure the jar was filled with Greek fire, wisely decided to leave it alone. "Well, I don't know if that's how he'll see it. Like, think of it like a soccer game. The goalie's one of the most important positions, but the striker-"

"Is the one who gets all the credit. Damn it." She was biting her lip rather hard, and he almsot thought he saw a tiny red dot appear. 'You don't think he'll do anything crazy, do you?"

"Hopefully. Maybe Nico can distract him about how Poseidon's 'Earth Shaker' ability renders him immune to all movement abilities from non-Olympians."

Thalia didn't laugh, as that would've totally blown their cover, but the edge of her mouth curved upwards. He remembered when he first met her. With her leather jacket and her punk-rock attitude, she quickly gained a reputation among certain male campers as being too 'unfriendly'.

But that wasn't really true at all. She was kind and funny, and above all, fiercely loyal to her friends. Even now, he could tell half her mind was occupied on working out a plan to rescue Annabeth. Honestly, he was surprised she was listening to Chiron.

It was at that point that he realized he was staring at her. And that she was staring back.

"Something on my face?"

Quinn didn't really have an answer to that. So he did what he thought Peter Parker would do in this situation, and kissed her. It was dark and cold and he was pretty sure his glasses got in the way, but Thalia was blushing when he pulled back.

"Wow. What was that for?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Just felt like I should do it. Speaking of which, should we get going?"

"Um, yeah. Sure." Thalia shook her head, like she was trying to snap out of something. "Probably wouldn't go over well with the team if we were too busy making out in the woods to get the flag."

"I don't know about that. Pretty sure the Aphrodite cabin would be fine."

Thalia laughed, but it was short lived when they arrived in the clearing, and didn't see a flag in sight.

He turned to her. "I thought you said the flag was here."

She was wide-eyed. Apparently, she didn't know any better then he did. "It _was_ , that's what Travis said he overheard. Unless they moved it or something..."

"They can't move it once the game starts," He reminded her. "Maybe someone already took it? Could be Silena's or Beckendorf's group. They saw a golden opportunity, so they went for it."

Thalia was already shaking her head.

"Beckendorf and Silena know what they're doing," She argued, "They were supposed to be distractions. So it would've had to be someone else, who thought they could get away with with it-"

They both said the name at the same time. "Percy."

* * *

Quinn ran back to the boundary as fast as he could, losing Thalia somewhere along the way, but the game was already over.

Of course, the Hunters won. Now that he thought about it, the whole thing was a little unfair. On one hand, you had teenagers at a summer camp. On the other, you had the immortal warrior followers of a goddess who hunted some of the most dangerous monsters in the world.

Thalia stormed past him, lightning crackling around her and carrying the the scent of rotten eggs, oddly enough.

"PERSEUS JACKSON! What the hell were you thinking!" Even though the power of Aegis wasn't being directed at him, Quinn had an almost overwhelming desire to run away and hide. The retreating campers around her showed that it wasn't just him. Thalia was terrifying to everyone.

Except Percy, who was looking right back at her, just as angry as she was.

"You guys left the middle right open! I had a chance, so I took it!"

While they were arguing, Quinn noticed more sparks starting to fly off of Thalia, and her hair starting to stand on end. The water in the creek became more agitated, the water seeming to turn from a stream to a river. Something was about to happen, and he didn't want to be standing next to the two most powerful demigods in the world when it did.

And then it did. Thalia shoved Percy, but with all the electricity crackling around her, there was a large _pop_ and Percy ended up in the creek. Which was probably the worst place to throw a son of Poseidon.

Her face turned pale. "Oh my gods, I didn't mean to-"

A wave roared up from the creek, soaking the both of them from head to toe and blurring Quinn's vision to Hades and back.

Thalia was breathing heavily now. He gingerly touched her shoulder.

"Storm I know you're angry, but-"

A strong static shock made him snatch his hand away. He wasn't sure if that was intentional or not. All he could do now was watch.

She yelled, calling down a thunderbolt that hit Percy square in the chest. He sat down hard, with faint whispers of smoke coming off of him and a huge hole in his shirt.

Quinn could hear Chiron in the background, trying to break up the brawl. But that wasn't going t happen anytime soon. Maybe it was something about their demigod ancestry, with the rivalry between Zeus and Poseidon. Maybe it was nothing more than teenage emotions. Whatever it was, it wasn't going to be stopped by any one centaur- or anyone. Percy and Thalia outstripped everyone by miles.

Percy got to his feet, lifting what looked like the entire creek along with him. Focusing it into a funnel cloud above his head, it started churning faster and faster until-

Until he just dropped it, looking past Thalia at something so astonishing it just made him forget the whole fight.

Quinn turned around, and knew he would never forget what he just saw.

It was the Oracle, walking slowly to the group of huddled campers and Hunters. He didn't know she could get up off its stool. Hell, he didn't even know she could _move_ at all.

 _I am the spirit of_ _Delphi,_ she said, hissing in his head like a snake. _Speaker of the prophecies of Pheobus Apollo, slayer of the_ _mighty Python._

He quickly glanced over at Zoe, who just shrugged helplessly. She didn't have any better idea of what was going on than he did.

The Oracle mimicked his action. _Approach seeker, and ask._

One more question put to rest, he thought. It was only natural that the Oracle chose Zoe. She had known Artemis for centuries, while he only had a brief conversation with her, ending it with a worse relation than sixteen years of silence had already done.

She was nervous. All of the arrogance and casual annoyance she displayed seemed to vanish at that moment. She swallowed. "What...what must I do to help my goddess?"

And the Oracle spoke.

* * *

One quick shower later so he didn't die from hypothermia, Quinn stepped into the Big House's rec room. Chiron wanted all the cabin leaders there to discuss the prophecy.

Which is why Katie Gardner (Cabin Four, Demeter) frowned when she saw him take a seat next to Thalia.

"What are you doing here? The meeting's for cabin leaders only."

Quinn looked at Chiron, who looked at Dionysus (who was looking at his Diet Coke), and then looked at Zoe, who shrugged.

"The boy may as well stay. The meeting is already pointless."

Thalia gently nudged him as arguments started firing back and forth. "What's up with you and Zoe?"

He watched as Grover scooped up a handful of nachos and Ping-Pong balls, drowning them under a layer of thick cheese. Quinn wondered how satyr refrigerators looked like. Maybe they just ate them instead. "She's an eternal maiden, and I'm the son of her virgin patron who hates men. Trust me, nothing's going on."

She punched him lightly. He was beginning to think Thalia showed affection through violence. "Not _that_ , obviously. It's more like...you're both in on something that nobody else knows. Something to do with Artemis?"

"Yeah, kinda." At a brief break in the discussion, he stood up.

"Well we all heard her talk, so there's no use going over them again. We should just hurry up and choose who's going. _Campers and Hunters combined prevail._ So seeing as how Little Miss Sunshine here's the quest leader, how about three Hunters and two campers?"

Quinn realized he had never actually adressed his mother's immortal lieutenant by her nickname. If looks could kill, he'd be a vaguely godling-shaped ashy outline.

Sh kept her voice perfectly civil, however. "That seems...adequate."

Percy, Quinn, and Thalia all spoke at the same time. "Alright then, I'll go."

They all looked at each, before the justifications started flying.

"I should go, I'm the only one who's been on a quest-"

"Well I'm older, and I wasn't the one who-"

Dionysus lazily raised a hand, not even looking up from his wine magazine.

Everyone shut up. He may have been a selfish lazy jerkass, but he was a selfish lazy jerkass _god_ , and an Olympian at that.

"While I'd love to send you all on a deadly quest," the wine god-cum-director drawled, "the prophecy states that only two will perish for sure."

The last line came back to him. "' _And one shall perish by a parent's hand'_. It probably wouldn't be the first time it ever happened, but why would a god kill their own child?"

There was a long, heavy silence. Even Zoe, who was looking at him with her familiar look of distaste, averted her gaze.

 _One shall perish by a parent's hand._

Oh.

He started tapping on the table with a paddle. "Right. My mother's the one we're running off to rescue. So if it was going to be any one of us, odds are..."

Quinn didn't finish. He remembered sitting in the snow with Artemis. It was only two days ago, but it felt like an entire lifetime. At the time he actually thought Artemis might kill him for the way he accused her. Then he thought Apollo might (Orion would think so).

Then he actually met Apollo who was positively overjoyed to see him again, and all his worries melted away.

But now...

Quinn looked back up, meeting Zoe's eyes. "So what? I nearly died a dozen times on the way here. One little rhyming couplet isn't going to scare me away. I'm in."

"Absolutely not."

He tilted his head. "Aww, don't tell me we're actually becoming friends. Aren't Hunters required to hate all men?"

Full credit to her, Zoe didn't take the bait. "No, that is brought by men like thyself. I care nothing for your well-being, save how it might affect lady Artemis. Unlike your lover here." Her dark brown eyes shifted to meet Thalia's.

They both reflexively scooted away their chairs. Quinn could feel the dozens of eyes on him now. Thalia looked like she wanted to kill either Zoe or everyone who heard her.

"Besides," the huntress continued, "I will not have a boy on this quest."

Quinn's embarrassment drained away, replaced by anger. He stood up, almost overturning his chair.

"What, that's stupid! You can't just wave away half of everyone here."

"My Hunters are all female, so it would be a little less than half," She pointed out.

"Shut up. Chiron, she cant actually do this, can she?"

All eyes turned from Quinn to Zoe to Chiron, who looked like he was hoping they had forgotten about him. He nervously swished his tail back and forth. "It is her quest. She may choose as she wishes."

"But..Fine, whatever." He reluctantly sat back down. "Well you can't take all the girl scouts. _'Hunters and Campers combined prevail'_ , remember? You'll have to take at least two, seeing as how its plural."

Zoe glanced at the satyr, who had finished his Diet Coke and had started to nibble on the rim of the can.

"Very well. Grover."

It seemed like more of a demand than a request, but judging by the look on Grover's face, she could've asked him to get hitched to another Cyclops and he would've said yes. Quinn really needed to talk to him about his obsession with Artemis.

He shot up, scattering Ping-Pong ball bits and nacho crumbs to the far corners of the world. "Of course! Anything to help lady Artemis!"

Percy raised his hand. "Whoa, hold up. I thought you said you didn't want any boys on this."

"I did," the huntress agreed, "But Grover is a satyr, not a demigod. Technically, he has no gender."

Grover looked somewhat disappointed at that. He left his observation at that and desperately tried not to think why that was.

"But-"

"Have you ever seen a female satyr?"

Percy fell silent.

"Good. Now that leaves just one camper." She looked expectantly around the room, as if there were hundreds of volunteers vying for the seat. When you decided to shut out half the camp from participating, there would inevitably be a lack. Besides, what kind of person would give up their winter break for a chance to die on a deadly quest? That probably described most demigods, he mused, but the counselors tended to be a touch more rational.

Then as her eyes briefly passed over him, he realized the glint in Zoe's dark eyes. She was simply waiting. He knew who she was going to pick, and they both knew she was going to say yes.

Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus, stood up and volunteered for the quest.

* * *

"Can I talk to you?"

In the hubbub of the meeting's aftermath, when everyone else was talking about their destination and going over the lines of the prophecy, Quinn and Thalia slipped away to the porch.

Thalia had her arms crossed and didn't particularly look like she was going to sit down, so he leaned against the railing, looking at the dryads making snow-trees in the strawberry fields.

"It's just a quest. Percy and Annabeth went on two and they both came fine."

Quinn had heard about that. Everyone had. He wasn't sure if barely surviving a ship explosion, hearing the song of the Sirens, and getting turned into a guinea pig by Circe (who Quinn supposed was his half-sister now) would qualify as fine.

At this point his legs started to complain, so he sat down on the snow covered poker chairs.

"It's not that."

"Then what?" Thalia sat down beside him, despite her previous rejection of the chair.

"' _One shall perish by a parent's hand'._ There's that pact of the Big Three, remember?"

Thalia bit her lip. She had told Quinn vaguely about it. From hat she said, there was this prophecy about a child of Zeus, Poseidon, or Hades turning sixteen and generally messing everything up. It could easily apply to Percy, but seeing as how Thalia was older...

"You think Zeus might kill me?"

"Well-'

The door swung open as the head counselors burst out of the house, anxiously chattering bout the prophecy. Zoe raised an eyebrow at the sight of them, but otherwise said nothing.

"Well, it's more likely then Grover or Bianca. She doesn't even know who her godly parent is, and it sounds like her mortal parent's out of the picture."

"And what about Phoebe? Or Zoe?"

Quinn shook his head. "Pheobe's a mortal. Older than the history of Rome, but still mortal. Her parents are long dead." He didn't say anything. Most nymphs were the child of other nymphs and nature spirits, or two gods in some cases. Most likely, her parents were inconsequential nature spirits or minor gods from sixteenth-century England, judging by her manner of speech.

Still, he felt uneasy. Something about the huntress unsettled him. She was hiding something, he was sure of it.

Thalia could clearly see the hesitation on his face.

"Look, I'll be fine. We have to rescue Artemis by the solstice, so we won't even be gone for a week. We'll be back before you know it, alright?"

He sighed. Clearly, Thalia wasn't going to be persuaded by him. He'd have better luck catching the Teumessian fox.

"Alright."

She kissed him on the cheek. "See? Knew you'd come around. We're leaving at first light, but I'll swing by the Big House if I can. Later Harley."

"Later, Storm." Thalia trudged off through the snow, a black outline against the all-consuming blankness of the snow.

Quinn turned to the doorway. "You can come out now."

A somewhat sheepish Silena slowly stepped into view. "How'd you know?"

He tapped the side of his head. "Magic. At least, I'm pretty sure that's what it is. Artemis didn't mention it." She sat down in the now-empty chair, swinging her legs onto Quinn's lap.

"So," she said, after studying his face, "Did you want me to lend you a pegasus, or did you have some other way of getting to San Francisco?"

Quinn didn't bother asking her how she knew. Silena always seemed to have a window into his mind. Never seemed to work in reverse. "Is that where they're going? Why there?"

Silena shrugged. "No idea. Apparently that's where your mom was heading? Something about the Mountain of Despair."

 _The Mountain of Despair._ He remembered how Apollo had explained away the geographical choice. About all the residual Titan magic in the area, along with a few other things he seemed to skip away from. Could it be from the mountain? If it was a comic book, it'd be the worst place to go to."

Which naturally, meant it was the perfect place.

"Guess they cancel out," He murmured.

She raised an eyebrow. "Come again?"

"It's nothing. Just something Apollo told me about. Hecate's technically a Titaness, and Artemis is a goddess. Tends to attract monsters like crazy. And the Mountain of Despair, whatever that is, also attracts monsters. So somehow it hides my scent? Like not a week went by that I didn't see something out of the ordinary there, but I can count on one hand the number of times they attacked me there. So maybe they cancel each other out." Quinn shook his head. "But yeah, rambling. Listen, thanks for the help. See you in the morning? Stables?"

"Sure." There it was, that unreadable look of hers. She stood up, getting her legs off his lap, 'accidentally' kicking him in the shin as he did so. Quinn watched as she strode off through the snow, her steps almost perfectly in sync with Thalia's previous ones.

Then he went upstairs, and got ready to leave immediately for San Francisco.

* * *

Looking back on it, almost everything went perfectly.

And then it didn't.

The packing was easy. Ambrosia and nectar (come to think of it, he did always seem to have a higher tolerance for the stuff), spare clothing, golden drachmas, and a couple hundred American dollars for emergencies.

Quinn looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. For a moment, his resolve shook. Just getting to camp had been hell itself, and now he was voluntarily leaving it to do what exactly? Save his mother? Save Thalia? Show Zoe's stupid face that boys weren't useless?

He took off his sweater, staring at the patchwork of injuries. Those scratches on his right bicep from a hellhound, the burn from that hellish black horse, the long scar starting at his left shoulder and ending at his hip that was the gift of a foul-tempered Sphinx, marked all over with the arrow-like feathers of the Stymphalian Birds. Quinn couldn't see it from this angle, but he knew that the baby drakon left something before it had a sword shoved in its eye.

He hadn't shown anyone, preferring instead to wear jackets and hoodies constantly, even in the summer. At first people thought it was odd seeing someone without the trademark orange t-shirt, but eventually they got used to it. With the glasses and the comics, everyone just assumed he was your typical geek. Nobody really thought about how Quinn had made it from one side of the country to the other. And now he was doing it again.

Moping over his scars wasn't going to help anything. He picked up a t-shirt, covering his arms with a Golden Gate Bridge hoodie.

Quinn exited the min bathroom, bags and everything in hand, just as Chiron wheeled himself out of the room directly opposite him.

For one delusional moment, he thought he could sneak past the centaur.

Just as he thought that, Chiron caught sight of him.

"Ah, Quinn. I was hoping I could-" He looked at his side, noticing the bag. "Hmm. Planning a trip?"

Maybe he could get away with it. "Yeah. Seeing as how basically half the camp's going on a quest, I though I'd go home for a week or two. You know, Christmas, New Year's, spend some time with my foster family."

Chiron almost looked amused. "I've read the police reports, Quinn. You're still officially missing to the Huckells. I do believe you're going home, but I suspect it's for an entirely different reason."

 _#1 on Camp Half-Blood Rules: Don't try to pull a fast one one someone who's spent three thousand years dealing with teenagers._ "I'm not going to sit here and do nothing. So you can either help me, or I'll just arrive slightly late for the twelve-thirty flight." Normally demigods didn't take flights on quests, but seeing as there was only one of him, he figured things would be fine.

Chiron crossed his arms. "Is that the case? And how would I be able to provide my services to you?"

"Well for starters, you could tell me what the Titan's Curse is."

The look in his eyes darkened. "Trust me, that is not something you would-"

"Hecate, daughter of the titans Perses and Asteria. Which makes her a titaness, too. Third-generation, but still a titan. And if that makes me part-titan or whatever, I want to know all about a curse, if it can affect me."

Chiron's shoulders slumped. "Very well. Zoe would be the most knowledgeable on this subject, but I suspect she would not be willing to divulge it?"

Quin frowned. "Why? If that's a titan-only thing, why would it affect her? She's a nymph, after all."

"True." He nodded, "One of the Hesperides. You may have only just started tutoring the younger campers on the myths, but I wager you can remember that term quite well."

"Hesperides..." Something came back to him, the memory of teaching a class on a rainy, overcast day. They were talking about the Labors of Hercules. "Guardians of the golden apples of immortality, Gaia's wedding gift to Hera...Daughters of the titan Atlas."

Quinn snapped his fingers. "Atlas was forced to bear the weight of the sky for all eternity. That's the curse, isn't it? But if he's free...He must be that man in Zoe's vision. It all makes sense all now! We both had the dream because both of our parents our parents were in it, not because were both linked to Artemis! She must have had the vision from Atlas's point of view..." In his excitement, he forgot all about whatever Chiron was there and made to move down the stairs.

Chiron reached out an arm. "Unfortunately, I still cannot grant you permission to leave the camp. And as you have no mortal guardians, and Hecate is notoriously reclusive, you will stay here until Artemis says otherwise."

He stopped for a moment. What was it that Percy said Hermes had told him? _Young people don't always do what they're told, but if they can pull it off and do something wonderful, sometimes they escape punishment._ Quinn wasn't really sure why he was doing this. Was it for Thalia? Or was it for Artemis?

"Chiron, I'd just like to say that you're one of the few adults I actually respect, including the Olympians.

He seemed rther taken aback by that. "Well...thank you Quinn, but you still are not permitted to-"

"Oh, I know. I was just apologizing in advance."

Chiron frowned. "For what? "

"This." Ducking under his arm, he pressed the button on the wheelchair lift, causing it to slowly inch its way to the bottom of the stairs.

"Now that is just-"

Then he ripped the chair off entirely. It came to a hault, with Celestial Bronze wiring sputtering golden sparks.

"Quinn! That was extremely expensive! You have a month of stable duties coming your way."

He looked at the centaur, who was still at the top of the stirs. "More than fair. But seeing s hw you're at the top of the stairs...I think I'll just start when I get back."

Quinn ran all the way to the stables, ignoring his mentor's cries.


	6. Percy was Right, Flying Sucks

Quinn had just arrived at the John F. Kennedy Airport when he almost fell to his death. Grani, the usually rather meek and silent pegasus, was buckling wildly.

"Whoa, what the hell!" Fortunately he was at most ten feet above the snow-covered parking lot so all his bones and his flesh stayed in one place, rather then sending little bits of godling all over the pavement.

Grani sped back the way they came, not even sparing glance for him.

"Ow." Thankfully, it didn't seem like anything was broken. Just in case, he took a sip of nectar. The dull pain subsided.

With that out of the way, Quinn took a look around. Seeing as how it was almost midnight, there was no curious mortals around to see a near-reenactment of Bellerophon's death. Just as well. He'd have a hard time explaining how he got there.

At this time of night the airport was almost intimidating, with its lights glaring out of the glass-and-steel structure. Chiron could probably guess that he had come to the largest airport in New York. He should get moving.

Or maybe not. Even in the far more pleasant summer weather, the camp director had always disliked demigods taking day trips to almost anywhere within eyesight of Brooklyn. Gossip around the cabins was that there was a drakon living in the sewers underneath the borough, but Quinn hadn't seen any hint of one on his way through.

The airport was moving with a moderate bustle, full of commuters trying to make it home for the holidays. Nobody looked at a slightly scruffy nerd like him twice. He got in line behind a middle-aged couple with a dog underneath each arm.

Thankfully their argument was resolved quickly, and Quinn moved up to the counter.

"Welcome to John F. Kennedy Airport, the only airport catering to your needs." The woman didn't look up from her screen, or even stop filing her nails. "How may I help you?"

"Um, do you guys have any tickets left to San Francisco? Preferably with minimum stops."

There was a clink as she put down her file. "Visiting family?"

"Yeah."

"How nice," She said with absolutely no emotion in her voice. She started typing away.

Quinn took a look around. Behind him was someone who looked like your typical businessman, probably typing away an angry email to his secretary about how she messed up his reservation and he had to book a last-minute flight and was already angry about a deal that went south. Or not.

After what seemed like several eternities, the typing stopped. "So sorry for the inconvenience," (She didn't sound even remotely sorry), "But all seats on outgoing flights have been booked for several days now."

Behind him, Mr. Angry Businessman swore and stalked off. Quinn stared incredulously.

"You couldn't tell me that off the bat?

The ticket agent just shrugged, picking up her file again. He was starting to emphasize with the businessman.

Thalia popped into his head (not for the usual reasons), as he remembered how she had convinced the mortal teacher that they had always gone to the boarding school. By manipulating the Mist. Seeing as how Hecate was the goddess of the Mist, maybe he could...

Quinn imagined _his_ version of reality. He was at an airport, and this mortal had mistakenly given his ticket to someone else. He wasn't mad, he just wanted her to see the truth.

He snapped his fingers. "Actually, you just told me you mistakenly gave my seat to someone else, and were just about to give me my ticket."

The woman just stared at him. For one panicky moment he thought it didn't work, but then her scowl relaxed and her eyes seemed to slide out of focus.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Her fingers flew at blinding speeds, acting like an actual ticket agent. She printed off a ticket and practically threw it at him.

"Here you go, and have a nice flight!" Her smile seemed to falter for a moment. "Wait, what did I just do?"

"Nothing. Go back to making things as hard as possible in revenge for your level of salary in New York." He grabbed the ticket and speed-walked away before she could call security.

Quinn checked the ticket. Economy class, but at least he had a window seat. Couldn't get everything in life.

He remembered how Percy had never taken a flight before. Apparently Zeus would swat him out of the sky, because infanticide was what the god of justice and patron of hospitality did for kicks. Thalia also hated flights, thought that was for a whole other reason.

If he was superstitious, Quinn would've thought it was tempting the Fates to go on a five-hour ride in a pressurized metal can. But he had shown up at the last minute, and the only person who knew he was here was Chiron. What were the odds a monster could show up?

* * *

As Quinn watched a dozen fire trucks speed past him, he swore never to ask himself rhetorical questions ever again.

It all started when the captain's voice crackled to life over the intercom.

"Morning folks, looks like we're going to have to take an unexpected detour at Grand Junction Regional Airport, our smoke detector in the bathroom appears to be malfunctioning..."

Quinn snapped his head up. The pilot had to be joking. Even with his laughably bad luck, there was no way he was stuck _here_ , of all places. No, this was Aphrodite's fault. The goddess of love must've been laughing at him from Olympus.

"Hey, you hear what the captain said?" A girl around his age plopped down into the seat next to him. "I was in the washroom, didn't really hear anything."

"Yeah, we have to take a detour. Something about a malfunction..." Quinn trailed off. He couldn't place a finger on it exactly, but the girl was giving him a bad feeling.

She was wearing jeans and a bright purple t-shirt, reading a magazine with polite disinterest. She wasn't exactly a runway model, but she had a sort of energy about her that would make everyone in the room turn to her.

Then it hit him. Everyone else on the plane had at least a dozen suitcases. It was the holidays, everyone was flying home. Technically so was Quinn, and even he had a bag, albeit a rather small one.

This girl had nothing, not even a coat for the cold. It was as if she had just appeared out of thin air at the airport and walked on to an already fully-booked plane. Right beside him, in first class. Wait, was she always sitting beside him?

Maybe he was overreacting. Maybe she was just a teenage girl being a teenage girl, who decided to sit beside the only other person her age on the flight.

"So, what's your name?" She was still reading the magazine, her eyes fixed on an advertisement for some singer he had never heard of.

Quinn replied back, but in Ancient Greek. _"Quinn. You going to San Francisco?"_

"Well yeah, it's the only-" She sighed, closing the magazine with a slam. "Clever. That was actually pretty good. Been a while since I've seen a demigod use their brain for once."

"Been a while since I've gotten a compliment from a monster. You guys usually go straight to the fighting. I'll never get the appeal of being sent to Tartarus." She seemed harmless, being about five foot four and ninety pounds soaking wet, but appearances were always deceiving with monsters.

The girl sighed. "Ah. Hopeless bravado. And here I was hoping you'd be a little different from every other demigod. Tell me, how exactly do you plan on using your cunningly disguised whip in here?"

She was right. Given a little time he could probably rig up a dagger of some sort out of it, but he inda doubted that she'd just politely wait by for him to be ready. On to Plan B: Stall until the plane touched down.

Quinn took off his glasses. "You know, I'm almost impressed. I don't suppose you have a name?" Now that he thought about it, monsters tended not to give out their names, if they had any. It was probably hard to make small talk when they were decapitated.

The girl giggled, and for moment she almost didn't seem like an ancient horror that predated most nations. "How sweet of you. I'm Tammi. Empousai, seducer and destroyer of men, part-time cheerleader."

"Empousai..." He knew the monsters quite well. A hive of them chased him halfway across Utah when he dropped a statue of Washington on their sorority house (long story). But he felt like he was forgetting something about them, something important.

Quinn snapped his fingers. "Wait a minute. Aren't you all supposed to be servants of Hecate?" Tammi, who in the middle of readjusting her mascara, snapped shut her mirror.

'Yeah. So?"

Relief crashed over him. Borrowing all those books from the Athena cabin paid off. " _So_ , I'm a child of Hecate. Kind of, it's a long story. Anyways, she's not going to be very happy with you if I die."

Tammi resumed her Pre-Demigod Slaughter makeup adjustment. "Yeah, I know. Quintus Angelopolous, right? Your last name is atrocious, by the way. Who's idea was that?"

"No idea, I- wait, so you're _not_ here to kill me?"

"Of course not. Your mother, Hecate that is, sent me to give you a message." Tammi took off one of her earrings. "And this."

"...An earring." It didn't look like anything special. At best, it cost her twenty bucks at Walmart. "My mother, a titaness who predates the Olympians, sent one of her monsters to give her godling son _one_ earring. Not even a complete pair."

Tammi sighed. "And here I was thinking you actually had more than two brain cells rubbing against each other up there. Look, appearances can be deceiving. Trust me, you'll need it when the time comes." She outstretched her hand.

"Oh, right." The earring felt surprisingly cool in his hand. "Thanks, I guess."

"No problem. We good?"

"Well, there is one tiny thing."

Tammi looked up. 'Which is?"

"Well, you're a monster." Quinn drove his glasses right into her chest.

Normally, that wouldn't do anything beyond a light bruise. But there were two things. One: Folded properly, the glasses could be extremely sharp. And Two: The frames were made of Celestial Bronze.

And then Tammi exploded.

* * *

Apparently, empousai had a nasty little side effect of tending to explode into flames when killed. Quinn made a mental note to thank his mother for that.

The plane had already touched down, so Quinn plus the two hundred passengers on board didn't die horribly. And that was why he was hiding in an alleyway, changing out of his half-burnt clothes as a legion of firetrucks sped by.

He chucked his old clothes, which he hadn't even been wearing for a full day, but not before remembering to fish out the mysterious tacky earring. If Hecate had gone to the trouble of sending one of her servants to give him that, then he should probably keep it, at least for now.

Quinn paused. _Your mother sent me to give you a message._ Tammi never had gotten around to what that was, having had a case of spontaneous monster combustion.

"Oh well. She's a monster, wouldn't be able to trust her anyway." He stepped out of the alleyway, choosing a direction at random. After the explosion at the airport, even a flea wouldn't be able to leave for at least a week. He needed to find another way, preferably a bus service...

Lost in thought, h didn't realize where he was until he bumped into a telephone pole.

"Ow!" Thankfully, only his pride was hurt. Also thankfully, he was five minutes away from the airport and somehow there wasn't a soul in sight. Thank the gods for towns in the middle of nowhere.

In the middle of nowhere...

Quinn dropped to his knees, searching the bottom of the pole. The words were weathered, and weren't exactly built to last, but they were still there.

 _This Town Fucking Sucks_

 _-Alex_

* * *

"Seriously it does. I really think we might be hallucinating about the whole demigod thing. If there was a god, or gods plural, they wouldnt let this town exist."

Quinn plucked the last feather out of his arm, gritting hi teeth through the flare of pin. "Hey, this was the first town tthat came up. And since you were unconcious, I figured-"

"Yes yes, you snatched me away from the jaws of death itself." Alex stopped carving for a minute, turning over on the thirty-degree sidewalk to look up at Quinn. "What do you want, a Ferrari?"

"A 'thank you' would be nice. Or maybe you could stop defacing public property."

Alex did neither, putting the finishing touches on his signture. "Trust me, I'm doing this place a favor."

"Hmph."

That got his attention. He put down his pocketknife for a moment, taking Quinn's hand.

"Hey. Thank you Quinn, for saving my life yet again. I owe you one." Alex gave him a quick peck. "Better?"

"...Maybe."

"There you go." Alex went back to the carving, making what looked like a badly drawn stick figure. "Hey, so I was thinking maybe we could get lunch at that burger place we passed by? It's the middle of nowhere, not even monsters would be caught dead here. We deserve a little break."

Quinn sat back, playing with Alex's hair. "Sounds great."

* * *

They never did end up getting that lunch, now that he thought about it. The flock of stymphalian birds had looped back around, shattering the windows just qs they were about to order. And naturally with their luck the blame was pinned on them, and then they had to run. Again.

He wondered where Alex had ended up. He was a shoe-in for Elysium, though he always seemed to shy away from discussing his past, as if he had done something horrible.

 _Too late for that now._ Quinn rose to his feet. "I'll come back. I swear it on the River Syx." He wasn't exactly sure who he was making the oath to, himself or Alex, but thunder boomed all the same, as he walked off into the pre-dawn light.


	7. ThrowbackThursday

**So just as a heads up, we're getting to the end of the story pretty soon. About one or two more chapters to go. Hope you enjoyed the ride!**

* * *

When Percy, Annabeth, and Grover went to retrieve Zeus's lightning bolt, it took them about ten days. Granted, they spent about half of it in a hotel that sucked away time, but it still took them five days to get to Los Angeles from New York.

Quinn made it to San Francisco in about a day and a half.

Maybe it was the whole monster-attracting thing. Percy already drew monsters to him by the truckload, adding Annabeth and Grover to that...wait, did satyrs attract monsters? It seemed unlikely. That would've been a terrible design flaw, considering they were in charge of tracking demigods.

Speaking of which, Quinn could hear the cries of the flock echoing behind him. They may not have been able to fly at fifty-five miles or so, but thy were doing a pretty good job of keeping up with the bus. He leaned out the window, clipping the metal-beaked bird in the wing.

Fortunately the back was pretty much empty, or he would've had to explain why he was taking potshots at a flock of pigeons. And with a bag of pebbles, no less. Maybe being a child of Artemis wasn't all bad.

"Aright folks, we're gonna be arriving at the bus stop in about a minute. Time's 3:45 PM, bit of rain, so get your coats on". The only other people on the bus were a somewhat sketchy-looking (mortal sketchy, not monster sketchy) middle aged man in about six coats, and a woman who was either in a coma or dead. She looked like she had a coat on.

Quinn started to fidget with his bracelet. He hadn't been back home in months...and it wasn't like he left it on a happy ending. Not for the first time, he thought about jumping out the window and running away.

 _You could do that, but what about your mother?_

What about her? She was a better mother than Cheryl or Jennifer ever were, though that bar was so low molerats were tripping over it. Speaking of which, this was the first time Quinn really paid attention to the fact that all four of his adoptive and biological mothers were female. A bisexual Californian teenager with four mothers. A conservative's worst nightmare. For the first time in what felt like ages, he actually laughed.

Four rows ahead, the dead-or-coma woman snorted and rolled over.

The bus driver laughed too. "Glad to see someone who's not dead to the world on here. You visiting family?"

"Something like that." Outside, the flock had disappeared. It must have been the titan magic, wherever it was coming from. He remembered Apollo said something about it, how it basically hid him from sight.

"Well, perfect time for it. Festival rolled into town a few days ago. Speaking of perfect time, here we go." The bus pulled over to under a miserable little tree that looked like it was doing its best to leave for Tree Elysium.

"Thanks. You have no idea how much I needed this." He stepped out into the rain, only to have what felt like a bucket of water fall onto his head. Ah, San Francisco. He was almost starting to enjoy being back.

"No problem. You take care, Quinn."

"Thanks, I-" Quinn stopped. "Ah, fuck."

He turned around to see he bus driver stepping off the bus. Where the rain had drenched Quinn in a couple of seconds, the driver was as dry as a bone, droplets rolling right off his skin.

The driver chuckled exactly like he had a few moments ago, but it sounded so much different at the same time. "Did you really think a godling could drive across half the country, and just be mildly harassed by a flock of pigeons?"

Quinn felt like it was unfair to not mention that the pigeons could strip a crowd to the bone in minutes, but maybe it wasn't the right time to mention that. He shrugged, slipping off his bracelet. "Figured it couldn't hurt. I mean, I got this far. So what now? I can't help but notice that you look like you're unarmed."

"I don't need your little celestial bronze weapons to rip you limb from limb."

Quinn sighed. "Oh thank god. That really makes things easier."

The bus driver frowned, right as it was starting to sprout what looked like ram horns. "What?"

In the space of a blink, his whip was around its neck. Quinn had personally seen the whip leave marks in steel. A monster's neck was nothing compared to that.

The monster very quickly turned into two piles of dust that curiously, were still bone dry. Whatever. Not like that was going to help it.

Quinn glanced up at the bus. The death-or-coma woman was actually alive, and looking out the window with a mixture of horror and amazement as she was on the phone. He wasn't really sure what she had seen through the Mist, but he knew it wasn't going to be good.

And for the second time today, he ran.

* * *

Really, what was it with him and suspected homicide? By the time he was done with this quest, he'd be on the FBI's Most Wanted list. Quinn ducked into a alleyway as a police car sped by, sirens blaring. Taking a quick look behind him, he flipped up his hood and continued walking.

The thought of someone tracking him through these...incidents had occurred to him. Chiron already knew where he was heading, and most monsters couldn't even figure out how to dial a number. He'd be fine. Probably.

Moving on, he needed to plan his next steps. He knew Artemis was in trouble, he knew Atlas was involved, and the mountain where Atlas was imprisoned was nearby. Putting it all together, she was probably on that mountain holding up the heavens. The garden of the Hesperides was nearby, which meant he'd be facing one angry Titan general, and possibly a one hundred-headed dragon. Or did it only attack those who went after the tree? Quinn wasn't in a hurry to become immortal, that was for sure.

Quinn hailed a taxi, probably on its way to the bus station to lurk around. Hopefully they hadn't learned of his possible felony yet.

"Presidio Heights please, just get me there quickly."

The driver looked at him suspiciously, probably wondering what a scruffy teenager was up to in a place like that.

"That's a long drive. You sure you got the money?"

Quinn just gave him a large wad of twenties. At this point, he didn't really need the money.

The driver's attitude changed to one of delight. Now he was just some spoiled rich kid heading to San Francisco for the winter. "Whatever you say, boss." They pulled out, just narrowly avoiding an ambulance.

"Hey, watch where you're going! Friggin paramedics, think they own the whole damn road. Hey, you underage? Never mind, shouldn't be doing this anyway. Corporate would eat me alive." He flicked his cigarette out the window.

"Yup."

"So, Whatcha doing in town for the holidays?"

Quinn rolled up the little privacy window. He wasn't sure if he could be any more wound up at the moment, and he didn't really feel like coming up with an elaborate excuse.

So thirty minutes and a still-suspicious driver later, there he was. Sixty-two thirty-nine, Jackson street.

Home.

* * *

Right on the corner, surrounded by those awful little five-foot tall palm trees. An awful shade of white, like every other goddamn house on the block. He got lost more than once on the block, after the foster home.

They still hadn't gotten around to fixing the step that Tiffany had somehow broken. For now they had just put down a little wheelchair ramp over them. Did they already get someone around to replace him? Of course they did, it was Cheryl and Jennifer. They probably already threw his stuff to the curb.

Quinn crossed the street, fighting the urge to slash the ugly gray minivan's tires. Same old gates he had passed a million times, wishing to never see them again. Never seemed to work. _Thanks Artemis._

He still wasn't sure about Hecate. She seemed nice in the myths, helping Demeter with Hades and fighting with the Gods in the Titan War, but he hadn't even heard a whisper from her. He really needed to learn more about the mechanics and metaphysics behind his...conception, which wasn't something he really ever thought he'd say. Or think.

Quinn tripped on the slightly uneven patch of concrete, by the edge of the sidewalk, placing a hand on a tree to balance himself.

Wet. He looked over and saw himself. Or more accurately, a poster with his stupid ninth-grade photo on it.

MISSING

QUINN ANGELOPOULOS

AGE 16, 5'10"

There was a smudged smiley face clumsily drawn on it in crayon. Tiffany's handiwork, obviously.

He paused. Quinn wasn't really expecting this, to be honest. Tiffany hated him, and Jennifer barely acknowledged him when they were in the same room. As for Cheryl...well, she never really paid attention to anything that didn't use photosynthesis.

Or did they? It wasn't something he had ever admitted to anyone, even Alex or Thalia, but he couldn't really remember those last few weeks in California all that well. Things got a little fuzzy after a month of forced psychiatric treatment after seeing monsters everywhere. Maybe he should confront them...

Before he could make up his mind he felt a hand on his shoulder, and Quinn almost jumped out of his skin. Here he was a scruffy teenager, lurking around one of the more wealthy neighborhoods. Of course someone would find him suspicious.

Quinn turned to see a blonde guy maybe one or two years older, in a t-shirt and jeans looking at him with a bemused expression. If it wasn't for the scar over his eye, he would've been exactly Quinn's type.

"You alright there? You were just standing there for a solid minute."

Quinn was relieved that it was just him, in more ways than one. "Yeah I'm good, I was just.." his words trailed off. The scar, the hair, those piercing blue eyes...

He did his best to remain calm. He had never seen him in person, but Thalia had described him enough. "Luke."

The fellow demigod smiled, making his scar appear even more eerie. "Afraid so. And you must be.." He made a show of tearing off the notice and reading it meticulously. "Quintus Angelopolous. That's a bit of a mouthful, isn't it? Pleasure to meet you."

"Don't wish I could say the same." Quinn stripped off his bracelet, passing it to him. "Alright you've got me, I give up. Where are we going now?'

Luke shrugged, handing him the paper in exchange. "Where else for a runaway teenager? I'm taking you to see your mother."


	8. I need a CAT Scan

Another long car ride. Maybe he should've stuck with the plane, never mind being locked in a metal tube with an empousai.

As soon as the car pulled up (two door jeep, no way of getting out mid-drive), Luke had handed him a black hood.

"Really? I already know about the Garden of the Hesperides, there's no point."

Luke shrugged and put the hood way. "Alright then. Never let it be said I'm unreasonable." The driver, a man who was covered up from head to toe, glared at the two as they got in.

"Godling should be locked up. Not free." That word again. Did everyone and their mother know about him and his mother(s)?

"Oh, he's smart. He knows that he if he tries anything, say unlocking the door mid-drive, he's as good as dead." Luke smiled at Quinn. "Isn't that right?"

Quinn stayed silent.

The giant (he was barely fitting in the front seat, now that he got good look at him) grumbled, but pulled out of the neighbourhood all the same, getting them back onto the main road.

"So, why go to all this trouble? From what I heard, you didn't even know who your parents were until a few days ago. Artemis ignored you for sixteen years, and then there's the prophecy. Why go to all the trouble?"

Quinn stayed silent.

"Or was it about Thalia? Heard you guys were friends."

Quinn stayed silent.

Luke sighed. "Really? You're giving me the whole strong and silent type? Come on. Thalia trusted me a whole hell of a lot, you can't even give me a few words?"

"And then you went ahead and almost killed her not even six months ago," Quinn snapped.

The giant growled menacingly, but that didn't even ruffle Luke's surfer hair.

"Really? That's what you're angry bout? She was never in any danger. I had the whole thing under control. I was going to give them the Golden Fleece the whole time. Just after I was done with using it to restore Kronos. That's not how it went, but in a few months everything should be fine."

Quinn punched him. Hard.

Luke to his credit barely flinched, even though it looked like his nose was broken. Th giant snarled and started to pull over, but Luke waved him on. "I'm fine, I'm fine, keep on going. You don't want to keep the General waiting.

He wiped away the trickle of blood. And somehow the smug asshole was smiling. "Oh, so it's like that. I don't blame you. Thalia and I had a few sparks between ourselves, if it's just between us guys. If it wasn't for the tree-thing...who knows. Maybe we can pick up later."

"Doubt it."

Luke glanced over. "Pardon?"

It was probably a bad idea to antagonize him, but he didn't care. Quinn just wanted to the smirk wiped off his face. "I said I doubt it. We kissed. Actually more than once, now that I think about it. So if you think she'll join you and you guys can be together just 'like old times', forget it. And if you kill me, she'll never forgive you. Just like Annabeth never will."

It was a gradual change, but Luke slowly stopped smiling. Just sitting there, looking at Quinn with absolute hate.

"Anax," he said in a voice that was almost a whisper, "Stop the car, please."

"Uh, actually I-"

And the last thing he remembered was his head slamming into the window.

* * *

Quinn woke up some time later, slung over someone's shoulder and feeling like his head was split open. What happned...?

Right, Luke slammed his head into a window. He was blindfolded, and...yup, handcuffs. Or something similar. Which seemed unnecessary, if he was unconscious.

"Godling awake now." Ah, so he was on the giant's shoulder.

"Feel like making witty comments now?" Luke''s snarl. He sounded about two seconds away from ripping him apart with his bare hands. Quinn decided not to answer.

"Good answer."

The thump-thump of the giant's feet felt odd. They definitely weren't on a flat road, so...maybe they were already on the mountain. He was out that long? Quinn almost definitely hd a concussion.

There was something up ahead. He could hear tearing and snarling from what sounded like...a lot of somethings. A lot of big, very dangerous somethings. Were they going to kill him? Luke sounded like he had plans for Quinn, but after that car ride, he'd be surprised if he made it another week.

Quinn calmed down. He focused on what he could hear of the monsters, the consistency of Luke and the giant's footsteps, and the cool Francisco air on his face. Maybe he could replicate what he did at Westover, and when he was looking for Silena.

And now he was looking at himself, on the giant's back. And at Luke, and the sky, and what looked like the path behind him...Okay, his eyes were starting to hurt, like the first few minutes of putting on 3D-glasses. So he had a three hundred and sixty degree field of vision, okay. Hecate was sometimes depicted as a triple goddess, so maybe that's where he got it from?

Everything looked a bit different in Hecate Vision™. The sky was a strange shade of violet, there were strange shapes forming in the mist. Luke looked different, too. There was some strange energy about him. Luke glanced over at his body, and his eyes were the color of Celestial Bronze.

Okay, that was strange. Maybe that was because he was a demigod? He wondered what the giant looked like.

Never mind. He shouldn't have done that.

The mist cleared, and he forgot all about the giant's face.

At first he thought it was several copper-colored snakes all tangled around each other, before he saw they were all connected to the same scaled body. A pair of wings were visible through the mass of necks and heads, which were withered from lack of use. Above the heads was an apple tree, bearing golden fruit. The Golden Apples of Immortality.

Ladon and his hundred heads rose up in their direction, and roared.

Shit. They were so screwed. The one creature that even Hercules, the greatest hero ever born, couldn't fight. He had to get-

"Peace, Ladon. They are our allies."

The man from his dreams strode into view, unafraid of the dragon's hissing heads. Quinn always thought that Greek statues were unrealistic. It was hard to take the sculptures of Chiron seriously, when he had seen the real deal in person drinking hot chocolate in a magic wheelchair. But Atlas looked like he was carved straight from marble. Even in his colossal-sized business suit, he looked like he had been holding up the sky for millennia.

Now that he knew what he was looking for, he could see the family resemblance. Zoe and Atlas both had the same regal look about them, and cold black eyes. But while Zoe managed to channel it into a peaceful, if aloof aura, Atlas radiated cruelty.

The titan had a certain glow to hi faintly present, like seeing the lights in a room spilling from underneath the door. And Quinn knew if he tried to open the door, his current situation would be the least of his worries.

The giant dumped him on the floor like a bag of potatoes. "Got godling."

"Silence." Atlas knelt down beside Quinn, examining him. After a moment, his gaze turned to meet Quinn's.

"Quintus Angelopoulos. A godling born between the most unusual union of Hecate and Artemis. Luke, remove his blindfold. I suspect it was rather useless."

Quinn blinked as his sight shifted from extraordinary to ordinary. "Um, that's, that's basically it. Though I'm not exactly sure about the physics behind the conception, if you can call it that."

"Well, your curiosity will not suffer much longer. Luke, bring him to the ship. He can await the arrival of the friends there, with your friend Annabeth. Unharmed, I might add. Do I make myself clear?'

The _Princess Andromeda_. Quinn heard about if from Percy and Annabeth. The cruise ship was the base of Kronos' forces, and where they kept the golden sarcophagus that was slowly regenerating the titan lord.

Luke wrenched him up with an iron grip on his arm. "Yes. Sir."

"Obviously not, or you would have done so the first time."

He didn't say anything, but Quinn could feel his grip on him tighten.

"I must attend to our other prisoner. I would hate for her to expire before our guests have arrived."

As Luke dragged him away, and Atlas strode off, Quinn could've sworn he saw a girl who looked just like Zoe dart off into the mist...

* * *

"Wow, you have a way better room."

Annabeth leapt up from her bed as Quinn was shoved in, hastily shoving something in her hander under a pillow.

"Quinn? What in Hades are you doing here?"

He rubbed his wrists (Luke was _not_ gentle) as he looked around the room. Silk sheets, a whole bookcase of what looked like books on Architecture..Luke clearly wanted her n his side.

"Long story. Basically I didn't get picked for the quest to rescue Artemis, she got taken a few days after you, so I stole a pegasus and ran away, Percy and Thalia had this hug lightning-and-water fight, lots of stuff for only a couple of days. But you seem to be doing well..." Quinn noticed a gray streak in her hair. "Uh, you dye your hair or something?"

Annabeth sat back down again. "No."

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "Okay. So if you didn't dye it, and I'm assuming your hair didn't go gray from the stress in just a few days, what was it?"

"From the sky."

"What?" Then it hit him. _Of course_. Atlas was free before Artemis was captured, judging by the dreams he and Zoe had. So if he wasn't holding up the sky, someone else had to.. "Oh."

"Yeah."

Quinn sat down next to her. He was never really good at comforting people. Alex was always better. "You alright?"

"I'll live. Honestly, it was more of a spiritual burden than a physical one. Artemis should be-" She frowned and turned to Quinn, already forgetting about her ordeal. "Wait, why did _you_ want to go on the quest?"

"Oh, um...she's my mom. Actually found out like literally a minute after Thorn pulled you off the cliff."

Annabeth just stared at him. "Wait, seriously?"

Quinn nodded. "Yup. Swear to Styx. I think she's still a virgin somehow? She didn't really get into the details about it, and than we kinda had your standard absent-godly parent argument, and then we hitched a ride back to camp on Apollo's sun chariot. Who I guess is technically my uncle."

She rested her chin on her hand, deep in thought. "Well Artemis was said to have a bathing pool that magically restored her virginity, so I guess a child of hers could technically exist. But she and her hunt swear off the company of men, so I don't know how your dad could've met her."

"Oh, I had two moms instead, Artemis and Hecate. No human parent, but apparently I'm still mortal."

Annabeth paused. "Okay."

"Yeah, that was my reaction too." Quinn looked around, lifted up the pillow she had stashed something under. "So what's this, another book?

She leapt up again, trying to stop him. "No, it's-"

It was a photo. In it, a young Luke and Annabeth were at a park, with the latter on the former's shoulders. Thalia was probably the one taking the photo, seeing as she wasn't anywhere in it.

"Huh. This from when you guys were on the run together?"

Annabeth look a bit embarrassed. "A few weeks after I left home. Luke was trying to cheer me up, so...

Quinn sighed. "Yeah. Things were a lot simpler before I came to camp. Didn't need to worry about quests or prophecies or Thalia or my-

"Thalia?" She was frowning now. "What, did something happen?"

Right. She hadn't heard the oracle's prophecy. "One of the lines in the prophecy talked about someone dying by a parent's hand. Between that and Troop Leader Zoe's hatred for half the human race, they wouldn't let me go."

"So Thalia went in your place. Seeing as the quest's about your mom.

"Never mind that Zeus broke an oath by having her, so she's just in as much danger, if not more. But she wouldn't listen at all. So that's why I' technically set a passenger plane on fire." Seeing Annabeth's shocked expression he added on, "Empousai. Apparently they can explode into flames when you kill them. uBut it wasn't my fault. Though I guess my mother did send it. But it was a monster. What was I supposed to do, not kill it?'

"Maybe not blow up a plane?"

"That's ridiculous."

* * *

And that was how the rest of the days went by. About an hour a day, he was escorted to Annabeth's room, most likely on Luke's orders. Th rest of the time, he was locked up in his room, which could've doubled as a broom closet. Quinn spent most of his time 'scrying', which is what he was calling his weird vision-thingy.. He discovered that he could actually project his sight, and all his other senses, far beyond his room.

Not that there was a lot to see. He kept away from Annabeth's room out of courtesy, and the rest of the ship was overflowing with monsters. If there was a way to block out his sense of smell, he hadn't figured it out. Until then, he stayed away from most of the rooms.

Quinn couldn't get into Luke's cabin. Every time he tried to do so there was an overwhelmingly bright golden light, drowning out all details and making his ears ring for hours afterwards.

So he spent most of his time exploring outside the ship. The further away he got, the harder it was to maintain his focus. The furthest he got to was all the way to the top of the mountain, where Artemis was holding up the sky. If his mother could sense him like Atlas could, she didn't say anything before he was launched back to his cell with a bad headache. That happened a lot.

Like today. Quinn was following the flight path of a seagull a few hundred meters above the ship to the east, before it was abruptly snatched by a hawk and taken out of range. And then he opened his eyes to see his charming little cell again.

"Ugh. Thanks Hecate," He said to no one in particular. Quinn doubted she could hear him here. Or she wasn't listening. "You're definitely giving me a lot more gifts than Artemis, that's for sure, but it's a bit of moot point if they all give me a migraine. At this rate, the earring's going to give me tetanus-"

Wait. Didn't the empousai say (right before he stabbed her) that he'd be needing it? He probably still had it in his jean pocket, Luke didn't really search him after Quinn gave him the whip..

There it was. Small, cheap, and except for the fact that it wasn't in a pair (which made it useless) completely unimpressive.

"Umm...activate?"

The earring stayed an earring, remarkably.

"Open. Expand. Expelliarmus."

Still an earring, to all appearances.

Quinn sighed and put it back in his pocket. "Great. Stuck in a room with a headache and a cheap earring. Thanks Hecate, guess I'm getting you a Christmas gift!"

He leaned back against the wall for a moment. The headache was starting back up again. Maybe if he complained enough , they'd give him some ibuprofen. Or maybe they would just kill him.

Thankfully, that dilemma was taken out of his hands by the door, and the demigod that was opening it.

Luke looked at him suspiciously. "Who were you talking to you?"

"Uh...myself."

"Yourself." He clearly wasn't buying it. Time for something risky.

"Yeah, I was planning my first date with Thalia. I'm thinking either Mount Olympus or Alcatraz. What do you think?" It was kind of funny to see him squirm with anger, like seeing a lion roar in zoo. But it was very different when he was in the cage with it.

Luke's hand moved halfway towards Backbiter before he stopped himself. "If only you knew-Whatever. Get up."

Skeptical eyebrow(s) were raised. "Why? You finally going to kill me?"

"If it was up to me, you would've been dead days ago. Get up. I'm not asking again."

Quinn wondered if he was lying. It wouldn't really make sense, considering who held ll the power. He would be as dead out of his cell as in it. Maybe even a little bit safer. "Sure, why not."

"Not like you have a choice." Luke hauled him up, snapping a pair of Celestial Bronze manacles onto him.

"Kinky. Kinda seeing Thalia at the moment though, so this will have to be a side thing." Quinn tested his restraints. The cuffs were kind of heavy, being made of solid Celestial Bronze. If he could get free somehow, they could serve as a pretty good makeshift-whip. Or would it be a flail? He wasn't Clarisse, he just chose the first one that put a little distance between him and his opponent.

Luke laughed a little at that, which was actually more terrifying then him almost butchering him. "I doubt you'll live long enough to worry about that."

* * *

He couldn't see Annabeth anywhere on the ship (plenty of monsters, though. They seemed to be getting ready for something.. That worried him a bit. If Luke didn't want her involved with whatever would hapen to him, then it probably wasn't going to be a good ending for him.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about her." Luke remarkedpushin. "Annabeth's fine."

"Yea, I'm not worried about Annabeth. If I had to choose between meeting her or you in a dark alleyway..."

gain with the laughing. He seemed to be in a better mood today, which was unsettling. "Yeah, she can be pretty badass. Did you ever hear about how she almost killed me with a-"

"Shut up." Quinn kicked him in the shin. "We're not friends, you're my captor. Same for Annabeth. As much as you try to get the Old Band back together again, they're going to hate you for life for playing soldier with the titans. And nothing will change that."

Luke stopped shoving him. He just stood there. Turning bck, Quinn could see him just standing there, with a blank look on his face.

He seemed to shake it off. "If you say so."

 _What?_ Just a few days ago, he got a concussion for saying something like that. And now he was actually laughing and smiling _._

His mind went back to Annabeth. Did she make some sort of deal with him? She may have been a child of Athena, but she was still a kid. And Luke would know just how to press her buttons...

Finally they reached the top of the mountain, where Atlas and a squad of dracanae were waiting for them, along with the golden sarcophagi that housed Kronos. Annabeth was chained to it, and was gagged.

"Luke. At last you've joined us. Take your place alongside your companion here."

He bowed, standing next to Annabeth. In the blink of an eye, Luke had his sword Backbiter against her throat.

Her and Quinn exchanged looks of alarm. There was something seriously wrong with him. "What the hell did you do to him? He'd never hurt her."

Atlas glanced down at him, like a person who had stepped in something unpleasant. For once he could tell how much disdain the titan general had for mortals. Luke was important to Kronos' cause, and Annabeth was important to Luke. Quinn wasn't.

"You should be worried on your own behalf. Soon we shall have the sacrifice, and you will no longer be of any use to us. Lord Kronos shall rise, and the gods will be destroyed."

Atlas looked around them, where the mist/Mist seemed to be solidifying. A fortress was being built. Mount Othyrs, Quinn realized. The stronghold of the titans. Piece by piece, it was becoming a reality.

"And then, a New Age shall dawn."

* * *

 **As you can see, this chapter was notably longer than the rest. About one more chapter to go before the end!**


	9. Sacrifice

Would she really join them?

If you asked Quinn that, he'd deny it. _Of course she wouldn't,_ he'd say. _She's a hero, and she'd never join Kronos._

But would she join Luke? Of course he'd deny it but honestly, he had no idea. They never really discussed him, it being a sore spot for both of them. For different reasons.

Take Alex. If he turned evil (not that he ever would), and asked Quinn to join him, what would he do? He couldn't say he wouldn't be tempted.

And so was Thalia. He could see it in her eyes. She once told him that all demigods had a "Fatal Flaw", a personal shortcoming that would destroy them if they didn't master it. Or in the case, destroy the world.

Her eyes seemed to flicker towards him. The hesitation in her face disappeared, and she leveled her spear at Luke. "You aren't Luke. I don't know who you are anymore."

Quinn couldn't exactly see Luke's expression, but he sounded like he was in terrible pain. He almost felt a bit sympathetic. Almost. "Please. Please don't make him hurt you."

 _Him._ Kronos was controlling him somehow? That would explain a lot. But if Kronos was in the coffin, slowly gathering power for a physical body, that would mean...

Quinn would've finished his thoughts. Unfortunately, that was the point where everything went to hell.

* * *

Thalia and Luke charged each other, the force of Aegis sending the dracanae running (slithering?) for their lives. If it was anyone else holding the shield, Annabeth and Quinn probably would've done the same. Only the fact that it was Thalia made it bearable.

Luke didn't even flinch at the sight, snarling like a wild animal. Where Backbiter and Aegis clashed, lightning erupted.

Quinn ran to Annabeth, who was struggling to free her hands with a rock. He quickly untied the gag, tossing it aside.

"Knife?"

Annabeth stopped struggling. "Back pocket. Luke gave me the knife in the first place, he let me keep it close by. I convinced him."

"And that's why you're a child of Athena." Quinn sliced through his restraints, and then gave the knife back to her. "Look, try and keep quiet. Atlas can't attack you without you directly challenging him, being immortal, and you can't challenge half a dozen monsters with a pocket knife."

Annabeth didn't look happy about sitting and doing nothing, but she accepted it. "Fine. And what are you going to do?"

"Something incredibly stupid." Quinn looked towards the golden coffin. He wasn't sure how the regeneration process worked, but it seemed fair to guess that Kronos would take a little longer if he fell a few hundred feet off a cliff.

it was abandoned, almost forgotten. The dracanae were still cowering from Aegis, which Thalia was shoving in their direction every now and again. Grass was slippery, not much friction.

"One two three and.." The coffin didn't budge, though he thought he felt a shudder. That could've easily been him or whatever was already back of Kronos.

Who was the god of strength again? "Cratus, could really use your help here, please and thank you. One two three and.."

Surprisingly, the coffin budged a bit. If he lived through this, he was definitely giving tribute to the god. "One two three and.." The coffin moved, a few feet this time.

"STOP HIM!" _Great._

Atlas smacked aside Artemis (when did she get free?), shouting at the dracanae. "GET UP, OR YOU WILL SUFFER IN TARTARUS UNTIL GAIA HERSELF WAKES!" Artemis leaped back unperturbed, scoring a long cut on his thigh.

Evidently, they were more scared of Atlas than they were of Thalia's shield. The dracanae picked themselves up, slithering towards him almost reluctantly.

"Di immortales." All of them were unarmed, but there was six of him and only one of him. Six, seven foot tall snake-women versus one unarmed godling of him. He could probably use the coffin lid as a shield of some sort, but it would probably be a bad idea to look at whatever was already present inside. Maybe he could find a rock or something...

"For Lord Kronosss!" One of them snatched at his leg, tripping him. He recoiled, kicking it in the face. He need a weapon. A rock, a stick, anything. He crawled away backwards, fending off the dracanae. Sooner or later, they'd just rush him.

His fingers finally found something, and he threw it at his attackers, not caring what it was.

A brilliantly glowing scythe tore through two of the monsters like butter, and nearly killing a third. There was a sort of stunned silence as Quinn and the survivors tried to process what just happened, staring at the weapon.

He dived for the scythe at the same time as they did. A dracanae got its hands on it first, but recoiled and dropped it instantly. Quinn scooped it up, the blade piercing the chest of its former wielder.

The other three didn't look so confident now. He seized the hesitation and bisected the closest one, using the cloud of dust that sprang up to do the same to the dracanae. The scythe just felt perfect in his hands, slicing through the monsters like it did through the air itself.

The last dracanae wisely decided to run. And run it did- right into Annabeth's knife.

"I thought- hold up-" Coughing, he moved out of the cloud of monster dust he had stirred up. "I thought I told you to lay low."

"I thought Chiron told you to stay at camp." She gestured to the scythe, which had dimmed to a low glow. "Where'd you get that from?"

Quinn looked at it himself. It was about the same height as him, with a long blade that didn't look anything like Celestial Bronze. "Hecate, I think. But we should get-"

A scream interrupted them. Zoe had just leaped in between Artemis and her father, who just smacked her aside. She didn't seem to be getting back up.

Thinking quickly, Quinn scooped up the chain from his shackles and threw it at him. It was tiny compared to the titan, but it whipped him right across the eyes. Atlas roared in pain, dropping his javelin. Artemis grabbed it and slammed in the chest with the tail end, sending him stumbling back towards the sky-pillar.

Percy rolled out of the way at the last minute perfectly, leaving the titan trapped once again underneath the sky.

"NO! NOT AGAIN!"

Annabeth looked slightly impressed. "How'd you even manage that?"

"Child of Artemis. Same as Apollo, I guess. It's only been a few-"

"Quintus!"

Zoe. He rushed off to his mother, who was holding the huntress.

She wasn't looking so good. Aside from the javelin strike she also had a bite in her side, which looked like Ladon's handiwork. It was dripping poison, burning the grass where it fell.

"Quintus, come here, quickly. I'll need your strength to heal her." She grabbed him by the wrist, gently laying the other hand on Zoe's wound. The poison didn't seem to bother her, or she was powering through it.

He could feel the energy trickling away from him, and into Zoe. Artemis was trying to heal her, but the poison flt like it had already done too much damage. "Artemis. Mom. I think she's dying."

"I am _not_ giving up on her. Zoe, why did yu even come on this quest? You knew your father would be here, you knew the risk."

Her breathing was shallow. "I had...I had to save thou...my lady."

"Oh, Zoe..." Artemis kissed her on the forehead. That surprised him. She was Artemis' lieutenant, but that was basically all he knew about her. As the daughter of Atlas she would've been much older than Artemis herself. What made her join the Hunt?

Quinn remembered he last line that the Oracle spoke: _And one shall die by a parent's hand._ The prophecy was fulfilled, and he would never know.

* * *

They had to move her, seeing as how Kronos' army was slowly marching up the mountain, before they were blitzed by a middle-aged man in a World War 2 fighter jet (who Annabeth quickly explained was her dad). That was slightly confusing.

Artemis summoned her chariot, flying them away while Mr Chase served as a sort of honor guard, shooting down a few harpies that had tried to chase them down.

They landed in a nearby field. It was getting dark. If it wasn't for the moon's unusual brightness, they'd be practically blind. He wondered if Artemis had something to do with that.

Zoe wasn't getting better, even with bits of nectar and ambrosia. Her forehead was getting dangerously warm, and she was mumbling in something that sounded like Arabic. One by one, everyone said their good byes.

Even Quin. He knelt down beside the huntress, who's breath was almost inaudible. "Hey. "

"Quintus. Do thou...listen to anyone?"

"Not really. I'm kind of an asshole that way." He looked down at his hands, trying to figure out what to say. He wasn't really close to her, but...looking past the petty name-calling from him and the casual sexism from her, maybe he was just a bit jealous of her closeness to Artemis. "Sorry about that."

"No need. It was...it was noble of thou to save thy mother."

Right. That. He still wasn't sure why he did it. It wasn't like he did a lot, or anything at all. All he managed to do was lose his whip.

But still, Zoe was dying. He couldn't angst about his uselessness now.

"Thank you. You were seriously pretty noble yourself, standing up to your father like that."

For probably the first time since Quinn met her, Zoe _actually_ smiled. "Perhaps I judged thy harshly...Until we meet again."

And then it was Artemis' turn. He moved a bit away, giving his mother some privacy with her lieutenant. Thalia followed suit, grabbing him by the sleeve and leading him away.

"What the hell are you doing here?! How'd you even get here before us?"

Quinn shrugged. "Took a plane. Only one monster, and she, I mean it, was sent by Hecate to give me this." He held up the scythe, which was glowing faintly in the moonlight.

Thalia glanced over at the scythe, forgetting all about her anger. "Wait, what's that even made of?"

"No idea, just know its not Celestial- holy shit."

Quinn watched as Zoe's body dissolved into nothing, leaving behind a silvery mist-like substance that Artemis gently cupped in her hand, releasing it skyward. Somehow, he knew what she was doing. Honoring Zoe's memory, just like she had with Orion.

A new constellation appeared in the night's sky, the figure of a girl with her bow drawn, forever running among the stars.

"Quintus."

He tore his eyes away from Zoe. Artemis was getting in the chariot again, looking back at him expectantly. "Yeah?"

"Get in. All of us will be expected at Olympus, but you and I must leave immediately."

"Oh, um. Okay." Quinn looked at Thalia. Days had gone by, miles passed, and he barely got the opportunity to say more than a few words. "Sorry."

"Don't sweat it." She hugged him quickly. "We'll talk soon, okay? Just don't do anything stupid there."

"Come on, this is me. That's basically guaranteed."

Quinn looked at his scythe. How was he going to...

The scythe shimmered, and once again he was holding the earring. Handy.

He climbed in beside his mother (who had increased her age again), tucking the earring in his pocket. Artemis picked up the silver reins. "You might want to brace yourself. We'll be going quite fast."

"How fa-"

* * *

"st?"

Quinn looked around. Instead of a chilly San Francisco night, they were in a stable. Greek style columns were on either side of them, and there was a girl with elfish features accepting the reins from Artemis. He had never been to the six hundredth floor, but he'd have to be an idiot to not realize where he was.

They traveled from San Francisco to Mount Olympus, in New York, in just s _econds._

"Holy shi-" Quinn doubled over as his stomach cached up with him.

The deer stomped their feet in disgust. The nymph looked resigned, as if people vomiting from reentry speeds was a regular thing.

Artemis snapped her fingers and the mess disappeared, leaving behind a minty smell. "Don't worry. You'll get used to it, with time." She motioned for him to follow."

"I don't see how I'm going to get used to a hyperspace chariot." They took a few turns through winding corridors of animal pens. Silver oxen, fire-breathing horses (he felt his scar flare up a bit just from the sight), even a pair of giant peacocks.

They emerged into the outdoors again, thought it was noticeably warmer than winter in California. "Wait, what do you mean by next time? Am I going to be doing that a lot?"

Artemis stopped abruptly, almost colliding with Quinn. "I...hope so. It would allow us to spend time together."

"Well I- what?"

She lead him over to a bench Quinn hadn't noticed before, though he wouldn't be surprised if she had conjured it out of nowhere. They sat there for a few minutes, while Artemis summoned up the courage to say whatever she was planning to say. He noticed she stared at her hands, just like Quinn did.

Finally, she began.

"Quinn, I know I am not an easy person to love."

That's an understatement," He muttered.

Surprisingly enough, Artemis seemed to agree with him. "Indeed. Zoe, Orion, Apollo, I can't see what they saw in me. _Storge_ , familial love, has never come easily to me. Romantic love has been nonexistent. You've studied the myths. I'm sure you're aware of how rare that is among the Olympians, given their rather amorous natures."

"Yeah, gods can be...never mind. So you're what asexual? Aromantic? Would the gods really care about that?"

She shrugged. "Perhaps I am. And you're misunderstanding me. Imagine being born, and everyone around you shares the same experiences, the same emotions that you have never been able to feel. Gods are not open to new ideas, we are very set in our ways. Imagine trying to explain to someone like Zeus, the concept of not desiring even romantic love at all. I've been a outcast among my own family for millennia, even if they do not recognize it."

Quinn was at a loss for words. He was lucky enough to grow up in California, with people who despite their flaws, accepted him. Artemis lived for centuries among people who wouldn't even begin to understand her. "...Wow."

"In at least some small part, it's why I created the Hunt. Sisters in arms, who could spend their days fighting and living alongside one another without discussing something I could never hope to understand. The first time one of them left for love, it...it broke my heart. I couldn't possibly understand why they would leave their sisters for _that._ "

"I used to be close to many of my hunters. But over time I withdrew from many of them. I just didn't want to take that risk again."

"So," Artemis said as she turned to face him, "I'm sorry for not keeping in contact with you. I was...unsure."

Quinn thought about it for a moment. "So what you're saying is that you've never really understood your Olympian family, which is what led you to create your Hunt. But you started to withdraw from them because you were afraid of them leaving, so you've never really interacted with mortals that often, so you were unsure of what to do when was born."

"Yes. I know it would be hard to ask you to forgive me for those sixteen years, but I would like the chance for us to have a fresh start."

Quinn didn't really know what to say. He knew what it felt like to be misunderstood, or at least feel like he would be. And Artemis had to deal with that in a family infamous for their poor tempers and divine power.

On the other hand, sixteen _years..._

He took a deep breath."I'll think about it."

"Thank you. That is all I ask for." Artemis looked up at the stars. "We should go. We've spent more time than we should. Not that it is your blame."

"Noted. Hey, can you get rid of these?" He held up his hands, which he had just realized still had the manacles on them. "Kind of forgot about them."

"Hmm. It might actually be a better idea to leave them on. It'll make you look more sympathetic." She got up and started walking away.

"Uh, why do I need to be?"

Without looking back, she replied. "Because now, I have to convince the Olympians to not kill you."

* * *

Apparently, there was an annual camp trip on the winter solstice to Olympus. It was the only time campers could visit, barring stolen lightning bolts or Helms of Darkness. Quinn was actually excited to go before all the latest chaos had happened.

Now he took it back. This was the first time he had ever seen the Olympian Council, and they were _terrifying._

They were all twelve feet tall, sitting silently in their thrones. As soon as Artemis and Quinn entered, he could literally feel the weight of their stares on him. Looks could kill, and he was lucky they hadn't. So far.

Dionysus was there, looking surprisingly presentable in a purple toga and laurel wreath, finally looking like a proper god.

Even if he was blind, he could pick out Zeus' voice. It sounded like what he imagined personified thunder would speak like.

"Artemis, I am glad to see your safe return. Take your seat."

"Yes, father." His mother grew to the same size as the others, taking her silver throne beside Apollo's. The sun god leaned towards her, exchanging a few words he couldn't quite catch.

Zeus' smile faded as his electric blue eyes (the same as Thalia) moved back towards Quinn. "Now, to the matter at hand...this is your son?"

"Indeed father. He had a hand in rescuing me, alongside your own daughter Thalia Grace."

At the same time, he could hear Artemis' voice in his head: _Kneel._

Quinn sank to his knees. "Lord Zeus. Lady Hera."

The woman beside Zeus (Hera) looked over him with a critical eye. "Well, at least this one knows his manners. It's quite refreshing."

"Hmph. You may rise." Zeus tapped his master bolt against the marble floor, the sound echoing throughout the hall. "Olympian Council, we are here to decide the fate of Quintus Angelopolous, who was born expressively against an oath sworn on the River Styx. Before we begin our deliberations, would anyone care to speak in his defence?'

Artemis stood up. "I would like to, Father."

A god dressed like a biker smirked at that. "Just like you, rushing to cover up your own mistakes."

"Quiet, Ares. Artemis, you may proceed."

"Thank you." She stood, the age of a child again. Which looked weird, considering she was twice his height. "My family, while I recognize that he is my child, and thus my responsibility, I did not violate my oath. The decision to do so, was taken entirely out of my hands by Aphrodite."

An absolutely stunning woman (who looked strangely like Thalia at the moment) on Ares' right stopped filing her nails, glancing up. "Someone mention me?"

"Do not play dumb Aphrodite, even if does rather suit you. You conspired with the Titaness Hecate, using her magic to make me unwillingly give birth to a child. Furthermore, you disguised yourself as one of my trusted attendants to accomplish this."

"Ah you're referring to that." She went back to to her nails. "Yes, that was me."

That...was surprisingly quick, for someone admitting to breaking an oath sworn on the River Styx.

Artemis tensed, as if expecting some sort of trick. "You'd admit to it so easily?"

"Well, I see no harm in telling the truth."

"Very well. Father, this should-"

"What I do see _harm_ in would be threatening me, the last child of Ouranos." She smiled at Artemis, but her eyes were cold. "I would hate to see anyone affected by that. Certainly Eros would be quite distressed. You know how...protective he can be of me."

Eros. Or Cupid, as he was more commonly known. Flew around making people fall in love with his arrows. Were the Olympians really afraid of that?

He remembered what Artemis had told him about the Olympians. Just one mortal's affair resulted in the Trojan War. A godly affair could easily result in something far worse.

Zeus coughed nervously. "Uh, nobody would want that, my dear Aphrodite...ahem. Shall we proceed to the vote?"

Artemis looked outraged at the blatant blackmailing, but managed to keep it together. "Very well then, I vote to-"

He raised a cautious hand. "Daughter, this is your own child. I suspect you would not be unbiased. You know the rules."

She gritted her teeth, but sat back down. "Of course. Father."

"Good." Zeus stood, facing the assembled gods. "Those in favor of sparing this child?

Hands went up. Apollo, a women with a circlet of corn leaves (most likely Demeter), a rather misshapen man with sparks erupting from his beard (Hephaestus, obviously), and a god with a caduceus scepter (Hermes).

And surprisingly, Dionysus. Quinn frowned. "Really? Thought you hated campers."

The camp director glared at him. "I'm sorry, did you want me to change my mind?"

"Silence." Zeus scanned the seats. "Only five. Aphrodite, you were involved in the creation of this child. Are you not voting to spare him?"

The goddess of love shrugged. "My reasons are my own."

Artemis got up again. "You little-"

Zeus struck his bolt against the ground again. "I said SILENCE!" Quinn could feel the thunder rebating in his bones. He was lucky he hadn't gone deaf.

"We are gods, not _infants_. Now, we must carry out the second vote. Those in favor of killing the child?"

Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite, Ares, a god who looked like Percy (Poseidon), and a goddess who was the spitting image of Annabeth (Athena) raised their hands.

Six against five. He was dead. Artemis looked almost paralyzed in fear.

Quinn raised his hands. "Wait, hold on. I-"

"Quiet. You are not a god of this council. Artemis, you may-"

What he did next would've been a terrible idea, if he wasn't about to die.

He raised his voice. "I SAID SHUT UP, AND JUST LISTEN!"

That got everyone's attention.

Zeus' face darkened. "Excuse me?" There was the sound of distant thunder.

 _You're already about to die. What much more could happen?_

"I said shut up," He snapped. "I forgot, you gods only hear insults."

Apollo laughed shakily. "I'm sure Quinn didn't mean what he said. He was just a bit rattled, it's been a rally long week for him-"

"No, I did. I meant what I said." Quinn stood firm, his as crossed. He appreciated what Apollo was trying to do, but it was a little late. He'd be dead in moments.

Dionysus sighed. "Well, that was a waste of my time. Teach me to vote for a demigod."

"For the last time, be quiet or I will tear out your heart. _Again._ " Zeus stalked towards him, only six feet tall, but not even a fraction less angry. "Are you so eager to die, godling?"

"No, or I wouldn't be angry at this vote. You're punishing me for something that wasn't even in my control! How is that even fair?"

That seemed to calm him down a bit, or at least confuse him momentarily. "An oath sworn on the River Styx cannot be broken-"

"Oh _you're_ talking about oaths? You broke your oath not to have children not once, but twice." Quinn pushed his finger against Zeus's chest, which he was surprised he managed to exist after that. Maybe a mortal had never talked to him like that. Maybe someone should. "Don't think I don't know about Jason, you hypocritical asshole."

The entire hall was utterly silent. Zeus raised his master bolt, ready to-

Then Ares started laughing.

"Holy shit, you're an idiot!" he said clapping. "Fatherh, I'm changing my vote. Kid's too hilarious to kill."

Zeus looked like he wanted to kill him so badly, it was actually hurting him. Reluctantly, he stepped away. "...I cannot break the council's decision. But beware, you are mortal. I am not. Do not expect a pleasant afterlife."

Artemis' words rang in his head, hitting him like a hammer. _DO NOT SAY ANYTHING. DO NOT PROVOKE HIM FURTHER._

Words to live by. Then the full weight of what he did just hit Quinn. He just called the king of the gods, whose weapon made hellfire missiles look like candy canes and could throw around mountains, an asshole. How the hell was he still alive?

His mother darted down to him, wrenching him off to the side. Thankfully she was regular size instead of twelve feet tall, so it only hurt a little bit instead of tearing his arm off.

"Are you _insane_? You could've gotten yourself killed. He's done much worse for much less."

Quinn wondered if Zeus could hear them. "Well Ares only changed his vote because he found it funny, so technically-"

Artemis glared at him. "Are you always this reckless?"

He shrugged.

"Alright. Just...just sit down, shut up, and don't talk to anyone."

* * *

He was getting a lot of 'Killing Looks' lately, he thought. Quinn was starting to think he was a bit of an asshole.

If, it was even possible, Zeus' expression got even worse when Thalia and the others arrived. He was about to get up, but Artemis mentally shouted him back down again.

For all of Zeus' flaws, he wasn't an idiot. Quinn could see the Celestial Bronze gears turning in his head, his eyes narrowing when he saw how they reacted when they noticed each other.

Quinn did his best to stay quiet and not give the god an excuse to incinerate him, even when they were considering whether or not to kill Percy and Thalia (seriously, what was with all the votes on filicide?).

Finally, there was an opening. When everyone put down their weapons, and no one- including the weird seacow thing- was in any danger of smiting. Quinn darted over to them.

"Yo."

"Quinn, I-" She moved to hug him, but after a look at her father, thought better of it. "When did you get here?"

"Couple hours. Sleigh's basically the Silver Surfer's board. "

Thalia frowned. "Should I know what that is?"

"Well not really, but I think I mentioned the-"

" _Ahem._ " Right. The gods.

They turned to see Artemis watching them with a rather bemused expression. Zeus was barely holding in his anger, and the rest of the gods didn't care at all.

Well, except Aphrodite. She had finally stopped paying attention to her nails, examining them- no, just Thalia- with an odd expression on her face. If it wasn't for him nearly dying twice in the past day or so and really needing a warm bed, he might've paid it more attention.

"As I was saying...Annabeth spoke truthfully. We have to trust these heroes, if we seek to avoid the worst of the prophecy. Which brings me to my next point. My faithful lieutenant Zoe Nightshade died in battle tonight. I must pick another. But first we must speak, Father."

Now that as interesting. Quinn thought it would be someone already in the Hunt. Artemis spoke into Zeus' ear, whispering too softly for him to hear. Whoever she suggested, Zeus seemed to agree.

Wait...Artemis wasn't thinking of him, was she? It wouldn't be the most far-fetched idea. She mentioned that she wanted them to spend ore time together, and gods didn't usually hang around mortals. Except for her, and her Hunt. And there had been males in the Hunt before. Orion (who Artemis mentioned only a couple hours ago), and Hippolytos.

Satisfied, Artemis turned back to them. "My father and I have com to an agreement. The person I have in mind has shown bravery and selflessness beyond expectations. I have no doubt that she'll prove to be exceptional as a lieutenant."

Okay, he was good. Quinn wasn't really fond of the idea of being immortal for all eternity, surrounded by a group of equally immortal girl scouts who all hated him.

But if it wasn't him, then who-

"Thalia Grace."

Quinn froze. No. No, she wouldn't. Would she?

Thalia looked as shocked as he felt.

And then she said something terrible. Just two words.

"I accept."

* * *

 **I promised myself that at this point there'd only be one chapter left. But seeing as how this is already my longest chapter by far, I'm gonna have to cut it here. Adios.**


	10. What Now?

He didn't blame Artemis, not really. It's not like she would have known. And it would've been a bad idea for him to spend all his time around the Hunt. Nepotism aside, males never really worked out in the Hunt. Hippolytos died (but got better), and Orion...well, he myth's were a bit fuzzy on him. And Thalia was an amazing fighter, no doubt about that.

Quinn went through a million of these justifications in his head. They didn't really make him feel better. Nothing did.

"You look different already."

She really did. Thalia had only been a hunter for half an hour at the most, and already she had a sort of silvery aura around her. It went well with the circlet she was wearing. He could hear the sounds of the solstice celebration from here. They'd be wondering where the two of them went.

Thalia laughed shakily. "What, do you have eyes in the back of your head or something?"

Quinn shrugged, turning around. "Sort of. Think it's another gift from Hecate. It'd make sense, her being a triple goddess and all."

"Wow...Lots of stuff's happened since camp."

"Yup."

Even with what Quinn assumed was some sort of temperature control built into Olympus, it was still a bit chilly. Thalia seemed perfectly fine.

She broke the silence first. "Look Quinn, I-"

"Congrats on the job Thalia, i'm sure you'll do great." Quinn picked up his scythe and started to walk away.

"Quinn, I'm trying to explain myself, just listen!"

He spun back around. "Explain what? There's nothing. With barely _any_ hesitation at all, you just accepted it. And now you're just ditching me to go run around in the woods playing girl scouts."

Thalia sighed, sending out little sparks of electricity around her. "I'm not 'ditching' you . I'm here, trying to explain myself. And there's the prophecy. If I turned sixteen, it could mean the end of Olympus. Do you really want to risk that?"

"Of course not, I'm an idiot." He turned back around, staring down at New York.

"Could've fooled me."she muttered.

That got his attention. Even Thalia, looked shocked, like she didn't mean to say it.

"...Goodbye Thalia."

* * *

Getting back was easy. He just walked out of the Empire State Building, hailed a cab, and wiggled his fingers and conjured up some Mist when the taxi driver complained about payment.

Leaving was a bit harder. Quinn thought about it for what felt like hours, filling up his bag and dumping it out all over again.

But he never really felt at home at camp. Sure there was Silena, but she was the social butterfly cabin leader in a cabin filled to the top with social butterflies. She had other priorities.

Everyone was busy celebrating downstairs, with hot chocolate and marshmallows and in the case of the satyrs, coffee cups. No one would miss him. For a while, at least.

He couldn't sense anyone outside. He should be fine until-

Wait. Who was that? Quinn could see someone climbing into what looked like the Hermes cabin's bathroom window.

Now was as good a time as any to leave. Quinn placed a letter on his newly made bed, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. The letter would explain that he was just taking a little break from camp for the while, and that he hadn't done anything crazy like joining the Titans. They wouldn't be happy, but at least he wouldn't be seen as a traitor.

He pushed open the window, letting it drop behind him as he dropped to the ground. He trudged over to Cabin Eleven just as its mysterious intruder was exiting.

Nico di Angelo. The ten year old had been crying recently, by the looks of it. He had a hastily packed bag and his Mythomagic cards in hand.

The kid glared at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Same as you, by the looks of it. Running away. Mind telling me why?"

Nico sniffed,looking at his feet. "Bianca, she...she died on the quest. I can _hear_ in the Underworld, and its all Percy's fault tat she's there in the first place!"

Quinn frowned. He could hear her in the Underworld. But that could only mean one thing. Nico and Bianca di Angelo were children of Hades.

Two more subjects of the prophecy. Now he felt even angrier at Thalia.

"What a day. Come on, where are you heading to? I'll give you a ride." Hopefully the taxi driver was still there. Last he saw, he somehow mysteriously had gotten a tire punctured.

Nico still looked suspicious. "You're not stopping me?"

Quinn shrugged. "Well, I sorta promised your sister I'd look after you. Might as well do that. Now if you don't want to get caught, let's get going."

Peleus was huddled underneath the pine tree, breathing tiny bouts of flame on his scales to keep warm. He raised his head at the sight of them, but otherwise didn't pay them any special attention.

Miraculously the taxi was still there. The driver was talking animatedly with a man in uniform while the man's partner was replacing the taxi tire.

Quinn tossed their bags in the trunk, slipping into the back as the taxi driver finished paying the repairmen. When he got back behind the wheel, he jumped at the sight of the two demigods (technically one).

"Jesus, you guys scared the hell out of me Anyways I can't take you, already got a call."

A snap of his fingers, and that was no longer a problem. "Oh, I know. That was us calling, we're your passengers."

His eyes glazed over. "Huh...Oh, yes that's right. Welcome to your cab for the evening, I'll be your driver."

"So," Quinn said as he turned to face Nico, "Where to?"

* * *

 **And the Lunar Child comes to a close. Thanks for reading, everyone.**

 **Of couse, there'l be more in Quinn's story, just think about this as a sort of introduction story. The next story will be uploaded (relatively) soon, and will diverge more from Riordan's fantastic story to focus on Quinn.**

 **The Epic of Quinn: The Ghost King(s) arrives on March 1st.**


	11. Author's Note

Hey guys! Thought I would just update this story to let you know that the first two chapters of The Ghost King(s) is already out. You can find the story on my profile. Hope you all enjoy it.


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